Editing Hurricane HID kit FAQ (section)

=== The Burner ===
This is the actual lamp. However, it's not a lamp as you are used to see. Instead of a wire, there's a small gass filled ball which is encapsulated in the glass tube. The ball contains a number of special gasses which control the ignition and determine the colour temperature of the burner. A major portion of these gases is Xenon, hence the name Xenon lamps.<br>You cannot check a burner by measuring resistance as there is no physical connection between the two leads feeding the burner. By applying a high voltage, the gases inside the small ball will start carrying electrons from one conductor to the other. The side effect of this is the actual light you're seeing...