BILLIARDS

billiards, an indoor game of skill, played on a rectangular table,[1] and consisting in the driving of small balls with a stick called a cue either against one another or into pockets according to the methods and rules described below. the name probably originated in the fr. _bille_ (connected with eng. "billet") signifying a stick. of the origin of the game comparatively little is known--spain, italy, france and germany all being regarded as its original home by various authorities. in an american text-book, _modern billiards_, it is stated that catkire more (conn cetchathach), king of ireland in the 2nd century, left behind him "fifty-five billiard balls, of brass, with the pools and cues of the same materials." the same writer refers to the travels of anacharsis through greece, 400 b.c., during which he saw a game analogous to billiards. french writers differ as to whether their country can claim its origin, though the name suggests this. while it is generally asserted that henrique devigne, an artist, who lived in the reign of charles ix., gave form and rule to the pastime, the _dictionnaire universel_ and the _academie des jeux_ ascribe its invention to the english. bouillet in the first work says: "billiards appear to be derived from the game of bowls. it was anciently known in england, where, perhaps, it was invented. it was brought into france by louis