A hide or skin is an animal skin treated for human use. The word "hide" is related to the German word Haut, which means skin. The industry defines hides as "skins" of large animals e.g. cow, buffalo; while skins refer to "skins" of smaller animals: goat, sheep, deer, pig, fish, alligator, snake, etc. Common commercial hides include leather from cattle and other livestock animals, buckskin, alligator and snake skin. All are used for shoes, clothes, leather bags, belts, or other fashion accessories. Leather is also used in , upholstery, interior decorating, horse tack and horse harness. Skins are sometimes still gathered from hunting and processed at a domestic or artisanal level but most leather making is now industrialized and large-scale. Various are used for this purpose. Hides are also used as processed chews for dogs or other pets.
The term "skin" is sometimes expanded to include furs, which are harvested from various species, including felidae, mustelidae, and .
The Inuit, for example, traditionally use animal hides for summer , waterproof clothes, and . In early medieval Europe, hides were used to protect wooden castles and defend buildings from setting alight during a siege. Various American Indian tribes have extensively used hides in the construction of and , moccasins, and buckskins. They were sometimes used as window coverings. Until the invention of plastic in the 1950s, animal hides or metal were usually used.
Parchment and vellum—a kind of paper made from processed skins—was introduced to the Eastern Mediterranean during the Iron Age, supposedly at Pergamon.
The Assize of Weights and Measures—one of the statutes of uncertain date from —mentions rawhide, , parchment, and vellum among the principal items of England's commerce. A standardized shipload of leather (a last) consisted of 20 dicker of 10 cowhides. European rabbit and gray squirrel skins were traded and taxed in timbers of 40 hides each. Skins were also traded in binds of 32 or 33 skins each, while gloves were sold in dickers of 10 pair and dozens of 12 pair. The parchment and vellum was traded based on dozens of the original from which they were prepared.. & &
Rare furs have been a notable status symbol throughout history. Stoat fur is particularly associated with European nobility, with the black-tipped tails arranged around the edges of the robes to produce a pattern of black diamonds on a white field. Demand for beaver in the 17th and 18th century drove some of the initial exploration and colonization of North America, particularly in what is now Canada. High fur demand led to over-hunting of species like sea otters and even prompted wars among native tribes competing for the most productive areas. Natural leather continues to be used for many expensive products from limousine upholstery to designer cellular phone cases. There are, however, many forms of artificial leather and fur now available, which are usually cheaper alternatives.
Many traditional , especially like the pandeiro, continue to be made using natural skins. The alligator drum was formerly important in Chinese music. The Chinese music sanxian and Ryukyuan music sanshin are usually prepared from snakeskin, while their Japanese music equivalent, the shamisen, is made from in the case of students and in the case of professional players. The African-American banjo was originally made from skins but is now often synthetic. "Hides" is used as a slang term to refer to a drumset.
Kangaroo leather is the most common material for the construction of . Stingray rawhide is a common material for the grips of Chinese swords, Japanese swords, and .
Pig skins are processed as . Hides can also be used as chew toys for pets.
Rabbit fur is popular for hats, coats, and glove linings.
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