  Using the Jones matrix formalism, crystal optical properties of inhomogeneous
material consisting of a pile of weakly birefringent plates are analysed in
relation to the cell model adopted in polarization tomography of 3D dielectric
tensor field in photoelastic media. It is shown that the material manifests in
general an "apparent" optical gyration caused by different orientations of the
plates. Relations between the polarimetric parameters and the dielectric tensor
components are ascertained for the case of weak optical anisotropy.
