The _tube_ of this telescope is made of rolled or sheet iron, joined together without rivets; the thickness of the sheets is somewhat less than 1/36 part of an inch, or 14 pounds weight for a square foot; great care was taken that the cylindrical form should be secured, and the whole was coated over three or four times with paint, inside and outside, to secure it against the damp. This tube was removed from the place in which it was formed by twenty-four men, divided into six sets; so that two men on each side, with a pole of 5 feet long in their hands, to which was affixed a piece of course cloth, 7 feet long going under the tube, and joined to a pole 5 feet long, in the hands of two other men, assisted in carrying the tube. The _length_ of this tube is 39 feet 4 inches, the diameter 4 feet 10 inches; and, on a moderate computation, it was ascertained, that a wooden tube of proper dimensions would have exceeded an iron one in weight by at least 3000 pounds. Reckoning the circumference of the tube 15 feet, its length 39-1/3 feet, and 14 lib. for the weight of a square foot, it must have contained 590 square feet, and weighed 8,260 pounds. Various hoops were fixed within the tube, and longitudinal bars of iron connecting some of them are attached to the two ends of the tube, by way of bracing the sheets, and preserving the shape perfect, when the pulleys are applied to give the necessary elevation at the upper end, and that the speculum may be kept secure at the lower end. The lower end of the tube is firmly supported on rollers that are capable of being moved forwards or backwards by a double rack, connected with a set of wheels and pinions. By an adjustment at the lower extremity of the tube, the speculum is turned to a small inclination, so that the line of collimation may not be coincident with the longitudinal axis of the tube, but may cross the tube diagonally, and meet the eye in the air at about two inches from the edge of the tube, which is the peculiarity of the construction, that supersedes the necessity of applying a second reflector. Hence no part of the head of the observer intercepts the incident rays, and the observation is taken with the face looking at the speculum, the back being turned to the object to be observed.