Abstract: C. FRIEDLÄNDER and H. Kayser have independently claimed to have found helium in the atmosphere. On examination of some photographs of the spectrum of neon I have identified six of the principal lines of helium, which thus establishes beyond oquestion the presence of this gas in the air. The amount present in the neon it is, of course, impossible to estimate, but the green line (wave-length 5016) is the brightest, as would be expected from the low pressure of the helium in the neon.