Object ball

“ It will be noticed the line k through the cue meets the spot h on the ball which is the point of aim, and this should be the case in every description of stroke. Only a part of the surface of the leather impinges upon the ball in this stroke, and the quantity of surface is governed by the strength used, for the stronger the blow the greater the indentation of the ball in the leather. The effect of delivering the cue-ball on the object-ball right or left of full will become apparent to the student early in his practice. ”

“ Get a good player to show the variety of ways in which it can be made, and practise it. Here are a few examples of the effect of dividing the object ball. Strokes 1 to 14 are made from the baulk into the top end pockets by dividing the object ball from a nearly full ball, as in 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, to an eighth in 1 and 9. Stroke 5 represents a half ball vulgarly called a pair of breeches. Stroke 11 should be made to hug the cushion. Strokes 15 and 16 must be played gently with a half ball, and 17 with a quarter ball. ”

“ Cue-ball cushions at a, b, effecting carom on ball 2. Object-ball cushions at c, d, e, resting at f.
Diagram 2.—Cue-ball 1⁄2 left, 1⁄8 above, object-ball “full;” stroke, 1⁄2 in excess of “ordinary.” Cue-ball cushions at a, effects carom on ball 2. Object-ball cushions at a, b, c, d, resting at e.
The cue-ball performs a slow twisting “follow,” the object-ball running with speed. The “slowed” follow ball is executed through the delivery 1⁄8 above, which imparts slight rotating power in the ball. ”

“ The wooden ball is lifted from the ground by means of the spoon-ended cue, and thrown towards the ring—the object of the player being to pass the ball through the ring; and he who succeeds in making any given number of points by fairly ringing his ball, or canoning against the other balls, wins the game. ”

“ An ounce ball, suspended against the back of the pendulum, by the jar or blow it receives and communicates, completely prevents the effect, and the ball is flattened, instead of perforating the object struck: so is it if you place a 1⁄4-inch plate against any support; it thus has the power of perfectly resisting the force of the ball, though fired with considerably more power than is requisite under other circumstances. ”

“ It may be well here to state that the object in giving such a ball a rotation is (as no ball can be made equally dense in every part and perfectly round) to present every part of the forward face on every side of the line of motion, all inequalities, therefore, of density and symmetry are at every instant equally divided on all sides, and the ball will go undeviatingly in the direction desired. ”

“ Six or eight young men stand around in a circle, with their garments tucked up so as not to impede their movements. A light, hollow wickerwork ball is started by one of them, and the object of the game is to keep it going as long as possible. They must not touch the ball with the hand, but they show great skill and activity in catching it with the foot, either side of the ankle, the heel, the toe, the knee, the shoulder. ”

“ The players of one line, at a signal, throw the balls to those opposite them. They then turn and throw against the wall, if the game is played indoors.
BALL DULL The object of this game is to train the perceptions, the muscular sense, and the muscles themselves. The weight of the ball is suited to the players. The two-pound weights are used for girls.
The couples are far enough apart to allow space for full play. One of each couple has a ball for himself and his partner. The throwing of the balls to one of the opposite side is simultaneous, when a leader gives the command. ”

“ To the inner surface of the ball is attached a weight which is secured in place by a piece of cloth glued over it. When this ball is thrown through the air with a whirling motion, it describes a curve like that indicated by dotted lines in the upper part of the engraving, so that it is difficult, if not impossible, to catch it. When the ball is rolled on a plane surface, it does not take a straightforward course, as would be expected from a well-balanced ball, but its course is very erratic, as indicated by dotted lines in the lower part of the figure. ”

“ Here you will have the balls flying under the simplest possible conditions, with no spin to complicate the flight and interfere with the comparison, and anyone who takes the trouble to make this experiment will find that some balls will regularly fly farther than others when shot forward in this manner. If the size and the weights are the same, these balls are better centered and better flyers, and it is an easy matter for any player to establish a standard by this test, and to judge of the perfection of any particular ball at a moment’s notice. ”

“ Every other object—sun, star, or planet—is hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of times as far off as the moon. It is right that we should desire to learn all we can about the bodies in space. We know that the earth is a great ball, and we see that there are many other such bodies. Some of them are much larger, and some of them are smaller than the globe on which we dwell; some of them are dark bodies like the earth, and among them the moon is one. ”

“ It is an easy matter to pull asunder the hollow ball, and this in turn is palmed, and the solid ball passed to the end of the fingers, before the performer, again uncovering his hand, which he brings out palm downward, carelessly throws down the solid ball, as being that which he has just taken off the rod. This is the only part of the trick which requires any special dexterity, and any difficulty which may be at first found will quickly disappear with a little practice.233 When the ball comes apart, the rings are, of course, left on the rod. ”

“ If eight or more of these be put in a row, all touching each other, and a single ball be placed about an inch or so away from the others in a straight line with them, then when the single ball is struck with a cue against the other eight, the motion of the single ball is transmitted by each one of the eight successively with such rapidity, that the end ball would be set in motion in a quicker time than a single ball would take to reach the end ball, if it had been free to move along without encountering any opposition. ”

“ The introduction of the ball into the hat is effected as follows:—The ball, which has a hole of about two inches in depth by one in diameter bored in it towards its centre, is placed on the servante of the performer’s table in such manner that the hole above-mentioned shall slant upwards and outwards, at an angle of about 45°. To keep the ball steady, and to prevent its rolling off, some performers have a slight circular hollow scooped in the surface of the servante itself. ”

“ Having a ball in each hand, they throw the one in the right vertically into the air, pass into the right the one that is in the left and throw this up too, receive the first ball in the left hand, and pass it into the right, throw it up again, and so on; so that the two balls are almost constantly in the air, save during the time it takes to receive the ball with one hand and pass it into the other. ”

“ After having rallied him on his pretended skill, you will fire in your turn, and will extinguish the candle, to the great astonishment of the spectators, who saw you load your gun in the common way with powder and ball, but did not perceive that your ball was pierced through and through in the form of a cross, as is represented by the figure that follows:
The whole magic of this experiment consists in this pierced ball, by which the elasticity of the air that drives it acquires a [49] divergent force, by passing through the holes of the ball, and produces this surprising effect. ”

“ If it rotates from the north, through the east to the south, which is the direction a right hand pitcher would most easily give it, it would curve to the left, and vice versa. If any one believes that the cause assigned is inadequate to produce the observed effect, let him imagine experiment No. 3 to be performed in a dense medium—water for example, and I think he will be convinced that a ball can be curved, but if he still doubts it, let him suppose the ball to be a croquet ball driven full of long, projecting spikes, and sent rapidly through the water, rotating as it goes. ”

“ But in order to get nearer to it a judicious player will endeavour to make two or three canons, if the balls lie within a convenient distance and at a proper angle to each other. If the ball be thrown with sufficient force, it will glance off from the ball struck in a line corresponding to its first or original line of projection. ”

“ These are then molded and later vulcanized, being subject to terrific pressure. The balls are then smoothed and polished.
As it is impossible to make a perfectly round ball and have the weight equally distributed, the ball can not roll true; an ingenious device overcomes the difficulty. The ball is set in a basin of mercury, where it floats. Naturally, the heavier side of the ball swings to the bottom. On the top, diametrically opposite to the center of weight, a chalk mark is placed on the ball and it is then lifted out of the mercury. ”

“ Divide the remaining balls equally among the players, or give an equal number of balls to each player. If four play, it is more interesting to form sides, the two players on one side taking the dark balls, and the other two the light ones. Blue and black are considered dark—red and yellow, light. The players, retiring to some part of the room more or less distant from the white ball, now bowl the colored balls, which they hold, at the white one, by turns. Each player bowls one ball at a time, the play passing around the company as many times as there are colored balls for each player. ”

“ In the act of doing this, the ball leaves the palm and is held between the forearm and the body; the hand, turned palm toward the audience, then pulls up the sleeve. You then blow on the left hand to vanish the ball, and show the hand empty.
To regain possession of the ball, all that is necessary is to reverse the motion of the arm, when the ball will find its way into the palm of the hand, and can be produced as fancy suggests.
If the ball is not produced, the above forms an excellent final vanish to any billiard-ball trick. ”

“ Starting from one end of the stick, the ball falls towards the centre; and then rising again to the opposite end, it constantly tries to fall to the lowest point, swinging and vibrating most beautifully, and with wonderful properties in other respects—the time of its vibration, and so on—but concerning which we will not now trouble ourselves.
If a gold leaf, or piece of thread, or any other substance, were hung where this ball is, it would swing to and fro in the same manner, and in the same time too. ”

“ Nine balls are used, generally one black, four white, and four red, the distinction between white and red being made only for the sake of variety. In the ordinary game, at starting, the black ball is placed on a point in the longitudinal middle line of the board, a few inches in front of the nearest [352] of the sockets, and the player places one of his eight balls on a corresponding point at the other end of the board, and tries to strike the black ball into one of the sockets with his own. ”

“ When a player has five stones she goes out of the game.
GUESS BALL Use a soft ball. The players form in line. One stands before them, with back turned, at a distance of several feet. This player counts up to a certain number, as the ball passes back and forth along the line; as a certain number is called, the holder of the ball throws it so as to strike one of the players. If this player is hit, she turns suddenly and tries to guess by the attitude of the players which one threw the ball. If she guesses correctly, she goes to the front. ”

“ The inside of the outer and the outside of the inner ring are grooved, constituting the ball "race" which forms the surface upon which the balls roll and which, at the same time, serves to hold them in place. ”

“ In this case a trick ball is used of a size equal to half that of the ordinary one, and hollowed out so as to contain a solid ball of a diameter equal to half that of itself, (Fig. 26) . The hollow ball must be so constructed that the small one pinches slightly into it, but can be instantly released by simply passing the ball of the thumb over it. A duplicate of this small ball should be placed in the right hand waistcoat pocket for use in the latter part of the trick. ”

“ Get a turner to make a number of wooden balls, each the size of a thirty-two pounder cannon ball, and let a hole be bored in each which will admit [660] the middle finger. The balls are arranged hole upwards on a shelf on your table on the side opposite to the audience, so that the balls are nearly level with the top of the table. When you take a hat off the table, you slip your fore or middle finger into the ball just as you would into a thimble, and by bending the finger, bring the ball into the hat. ”

“ The first ball, being displaced, pulls the second one through a less distance, and that the third one, and the third the fourth, and so on. This happens because the balls are tied together by elastic threads, which resist stretching. When the first ball is released, it is pulled back by the tension of the thread connecting it to its neighbours, and it begins to return to its old position. The ball possesses, however, a quality called inertia, and accordingly, when once set in motion, its motion persists until an opposing force brings it to rest. ”