Bile, s. A thick, yellow, bitter liquor, separated in the liver, collected in the gall bladder, and discharged by the common duct; a sore angry swelling.
Bill, s. The beak of a fowl; a kind of hatchet with a hooked point.
Billiards, s. A kind of play upon a flat surface, with cues, maces, and balls.
In order to play billiards well, attention must be given at first to the method of holding the mace; to the position in which the player should stand, and the manner of delivering the hall from the mace; but these are much more easily acquired by observation or by the direction of a good player, than by any possible written rules. A person who plays with his right hand must stand with his left foot foremost; and on the contrary he who is left-handed must stand with his right foot foremost, by which he will stand more steady and firm. Immoderate bursts of passion, and even fretting at trifling disappointments in the game, are usually found very prejudicial to the player; his nerves, being affected, it is impossible for him to make the stroke with that steadiness and nicety the game requires.
The games usually played till lately were the white winning and the red winning carambole games, but the winning and losing carambole game is now very fashionable.
The different games of billiards are—
The white winning game, played with two white balls, is twelve in number, when two persons play, and fifteen when four play; scored (independently of forfeitures) from winning hazards only.
The white losing game, also twelve in number, played with two white balls, is the reverse of the winning; the points being scored from losing and double, or winning and losing hazards.
The white winning and losing game is a combination of the two preceding; all balls put in by striking the adversary’s ball first, reckon towards the game.
The preceding games should be introductory to the knowledge of those with three or more balls, which are more complicated and difficult.