Convergent polarized light and hertz's problem for a uniaxial material

The paper gives a mathematical treatment of the behaviour of convergent polarized light passing through a uniaxial crystal, together with some practical details relating to the production of rings and brushes. The Fresnel wave surface is shown to be the isophasic for a system of waves diverging from a point source in the crystal. Explicit expressions are given, in terms of elementary functions, for the electric and magnetic fields and the energy-stream, both far from and close to the source; and the validity of Fresnel's construction is discussed.