Abstract
Various methods of establishing fluid media stably stratified in either temperature or the concentration of a foreign constituent are compared. A method used to construct a salt solution with precisely predetermined stratification is described. The Euler-Lagrange equations are solved exactly for a medium whose refractive index varies linearly in one dimension; the solution shows that a schlieren system may be used. For media with non-linear one-dimensional variation of refractive index, a modified shadowgraph technique may be employed. A device for the quantitative evaluation of a one-dimensional stratification is outlined and an example of its use is given.