The experiments of Rayleigh and Brace were aimed to show whether length contraction leads to birefringence or not, and later on, the results were proven to be negative.
The experiments of Rayleigh and Brace (1902, 1904) were aimed to show whether length contraction leads to birefringence or not. The results were negative, which was of great importance for the development of the Lorentz transformation and consequently of the theory of relativity. 
