Foucault appears to have been the first to appreciate these advantages and to face the difficulty of designing a siderostat which, theoretically at least, fulfils the above-mentioned conditions.
A large siderostat, constructed by Eichens after Foucault's design, was completed in 1868 - the year of Foucault's death.
It is, however, certain that the Foucault siderostat is not capable, in practice, of maintaining the reflected image in a constant direction with perfect uniformity on account of the sliding action on the arm that regulates the motion of the mirror; such an action must, more or less, take place by jerks.
The mirrors of Lindemann's equatorial coude reflecting light downwards upon the mirror R would furnish an ideal siderostat for stellar spectroscopy in conjunction with a fixed horizontal telescope.
The bolograph thus obtained must be cleared of the absorption of the earth's atmosphere, and that of the transmitting apparatus - a spectroscope and siderostat.