At the commencement of a game, combine all the cards possible, for that is more difficult than pairing; but when combination cannot be made, do not omit to pair, and also carefully avoid losing opportunities of making tricks.—Hoyle.
Cast, v. To admit of a form by casting or melting; to warp, to grow out of form; to direct the hunting of a dog.
When hounds are at fault, staring about and trusting to their eyes and ears, a forward cast is the least likely to regain the scent; the place where they left is the most probable spot for them to hit the scent, and hounds knowing where they left the scent, will there try to recover it, nor is a wide cast often to be made without good reason; the scent should be tried to be retrieved by crossing the line of it, and a huntsman, by attending to this, will not fail to make a good cast, if he observes the point of the fox. When hounds cannot hit off a fault by themselves, the first cast should be speedy; the scent is then good, and hounds not likely to go over it. Every huntsman should adopt these rules; with a good scent his cast should be quick, with a bad scent, slow, and when hounds are picking along a cold scent, he is not to cast them at all.
Hounds that are all well taught will cast forward to a hedge of their own accord. Time ought always to be allowed them to make their own cast; it is impertinence in a huntsman to prevent them, and prudence should induce him to humour his hounds in the cast they seem inclined to make, and either to stand still, or trot round with them, as circumstances may point out. Different countries require different casts; in an open country, wide casts are always necessary; in casting round a flock of sheep, the whipper-in ought to drive them the other way, lest they keep running on before the hounds; in every cast a huntsman should make it perfect one way, before he tries another.—Daniel.
Cast, s. The act of casting or throwing; a throw; state of any thing cast or thrown; the throw of dice; chance from the cast of dice; a mould, a form; a shade, or tendency to any colour; manner, air, mien; a flight of hawks.
Caster, s. A thrower, he that casts.
Castile Soap, s. A kind of soap.
Casting-net, s. A net to be thrown into the water by hand.
The casting-net may be successfully employed in a certain depth of water, viz. gudgeon net at four, and large meshed casting net from six to eight feet: in the making great attention must be paid to putting in the widenings, or the net will never open freely, however skilful the person that throws it. In preparing it for casting, it must not be taken upon the shoulder so short as to prevent the leads having their proper swing, which is to be aided by the corresponding turn of the caster’s body, at the exact moment of delivering it from his arm; and the first object is, to let the leads all break the surface at once. Many persons jerk one part of the net high in the air (which assists the spreading), whilst the other part of the lead line drops close to the caster’s foot, making a variation of some seconds in the fall of the different leads into the water: fish must be very crowded, or extremely sleepy, if they remain within the curtailed range and slow sinking of a net so cast. The nicety of the art is, to be able to cover any particular spot, and to shape the net accordingly; and no one can be deemed a proficient, unless he is an ambidexter, and throws from either shoulder, as the turning and holes in a river may require.