1. The phenomenon, to which the present investigation relates, is Faraday's discovery of the “Magnetisation of Light,” or in more usual language the rotation of the plane of polarisation of light in traversing certain media exposed to powerful magnetic force. One of the characteristics of this rotation is that it takes place in the same absolute direction whichever way the light may be travelling, differing in this respect from the rotation which occurs without the operation of magnetic force in quartz and many organic liquids. Advantage of this property has been taken by Faraday and others in order to magnify the effect. By reflecting the light backwards and forwards it is possible to make it traverse several times a field of force whose length is limited.

A consequence remarkable from the theoretical point of view is the possibility of an arrangement in which the otherwise general optical law of reciprocity shall be violated. Consider, for example, a column of diamagnetic medium exposed to such a force that the rotation is 45°, and situated between two Nicols whose principal planes are inclined to one another at 45°. Under these circumstances light passing one way is completely stopped by the second Nicol, but light passing the other way is completely transmitted. A source of light at one point A would thus be visible at a second point B, when a source at B would be invisible at A; a state of things at first sight inconsistent with the second law of thermodynamics.