RECENT work by Llewellyn Jones and Parker1 on the steady-state current flow in a uniform field gap in air subjected to a steady d.c. potential has been interpreted in terms of the Townsend theory of breakdown involving a secondary or γ-process. Oscillographic observation, however, shows that, as the breakdown voltage is approached, relatively high current pulses of short duration occur. It can be shown that these pulses, both in amplitude and frequency of repetition, do not conform to the Townsend theory, and this suggests that another mechanism is involved.