Parts Land 2. of Chris's, "Origins of Billiards," dealt with the history of the game from its obscure roots through the types of game known as the, "Port," and the, "Skittle," and to the beginnings of hazard play. How these forms of the game became highly elaborate, the introduction of the third ball, and the evolution of the modern cue from the use of the thin end of the mace. Chris's brief history is concluded with the development of the game to the present day.
It is not clear when the losing hazard became an accepted part of the game. The first English book to be dedicated to billiards was E. White's, "A Practical Treatise on the Game of Billiards," published in 1807. This work covers several games including the white winning game - which involved only potting the opponents white, and the white losing game which was concerned only with in-off the white. However, the game that most resembles the modern game is described as, "The Winning and Losing Carambole Game." In this book White writes that no rules had hitherto been published, but that, ".... The Winning and Losing Carambole game is now become so popular that it may be at present, be properly called the game of billiards." White goes on to indicate the scoring shots and these were two points for a white hazard, three for a red hazard, and two for a carambole or carom (cannon) - exactly the same as at present.
There were only a few major developments in billiards between White's day and the present and they concerned the equipment. In 1827 slate replaced wood as the material for the table bed, and about ten years later india-rubber cushions were introduced thus making the old-fashioned List cushions obsolete. Both innovations were met with strong opposition, mainly from the owners of existing tables.
Composition balls were invented in 1868, but it was to be many years before they completely replaced ivory. There were disagreements over the years about the relative merits of ivories and compositions and fierce debates were conducted through the columns of, "The Times," and, "The Sporting Life."
Probably the last major event that used ivories was the first World Professional Snooker Championship that Joe Davis won in 1927.
To return to the origin of billiards; it does not seem unreasonable that billiards, at or before 1470, was devised as a game in its own right. Of course, with imagination, it is possible to trace all ball-games back to a caveman hitting a stone with a club, but this does not necessarily mean that all ball-games have evolved from pre-historic times.
Researchers who have suggested that billiards was at one time an out door game, have made references to bowls, croquet, and even skittles, as being possible ancestors. It is worth considering though the more likely possibility that billiards was simply the fruit of an inventive mind.