The arc is produced by leading a current of about 5000 volts equatorially between the poles of an electromagnet; this produces what is practically a disk of flame, 62 ft.
The fact that in certain simple cases where a line when looked at equatorially splits into a triplet, the ratio of the charge to the mass is found by Lorentz's theory to be equal to that observed in the carrier of the kathode ray, shows that in these cases the electron moves as an independent body and is not linked in its motion to other electrons.
Thus one important attribute of an equatorially mounted telescope that, if it is directed to any fixed star, it will follow the diurnal motion of that star from rising to setting by rotation of the polar axis only.
Consider this before putting down your money on a large, equatorially mounted reflector which weighs more than you do.
