The Lens.
The lens was made by Alvan Clark & Sons. It was 8 inches in diameter; focal length, 150 feet; not achromatic. It was mounted in a wooden frame, which was placed on a support moving on a slide, about 16 feet long, placed about 80 feet from the building. As the diameter of the lens was so small in comparison with its focal length, its want of achromatism was inappreciable. For the same reason, the effect of "parallax" (due to want of coincidence in the plane of the image with that of the silk fiber in the eye-piece) was too small to be noticed.
The Fixed Mirror.
The fixed mirror was one of those used in taking photographs of the transit of Venus. It was about 7 inches in diameter, mounted in a brass frame capable of adjustment in a vertical and a horizontal plane by screw motion. Being wedge-shaped, it had to be silvered on the front surface. To facilitate adjustment, a small telescope furnished with cross-hairs was attached to the mirror by a universal joint. The heavy frame was mounted on a brick pier, and the whole surrounded by a wooden case to protect it from the sun.
Adjustment of the Fixed Mirror.
The adjustment was effected as follows: A theodolite was placed at about 100 feet in front of the mirror, and the latter was moved about by the screws till the observer at the theodolite saw the image of his telescope reflected in the center of the mirror. Then the telescope attached to the mirror was pointed (without moving the mirror itself) at a mark on a piece of card-board attached to the theodolite. Thus the line of collimation of the telescope was placed at right angles to the surface of the mirror. The theodolite was then moved to 1,000 feet, and, if found necessary, the adjustment was repeated. Then the mirror was moved by the screws till its telescope pointed at the hole in the shutter of the building. The adjustment was completed by moving the mirror, by signals, till the observer, looking through the hole in the shutter, through a good spy-glass, saw the image of the spy-glass reflected centrally in the mirror.
The whole operation was completed in a little over an hour.
Notwithstanding the wooden case about the pier, the mirror would change its position between morning and evening; so that the last adjustment had to be repeated before every series of experiments.
Apparatus for Supplying and Regulating the Blast of Air.
Fig. 10 represents a plan of the lower floor of the building. E is a three-horse power Lovegrove engine and boiler, resting on a stone foundation; B, a small Roots' blower; G, an automatic regulator. From this the air goes to a delivery-pipe, up through the floor, and to the turbine. The engine made about 4 turns per second and the blower about 15. At this speed the pressure of the air was about half a pound per square inch.