A pulse method has been used to investigate the intensity distribution in the ultrasonic beam produced in water by vibrating quartz crystals having disk‐ and ring‐shaped electrodes. The plot of intensityvs.angular position was observed directly on an oscilloscope screen. Measurements were made at a frequency of about 1 mc sec.−1. The intensity distribution found for the disk agrees closely with theory and with results which have been obtained by other methods in this laboratory. Most of the energy is confined to a narrow cone with a small fraction of the energy appearing in side lobes which become practically negligible about 8 diameters from the source. For ring sources the intensity distribution is similar to that for a disk. However, the cone of the main beam becomes narrower as the ring is made thinner, as predicted by Williams, Heller and Hellens (J. Acous. Soc. Am.20, 583 (A) (1948)). In addition a larger fraction of the energy appears in the side lobes, which are discernible at greater distances from the source than in the case of the disk.