A series of balloon-borne soundings in the atmosphere with single Geiger tubes was made during the period January to September, 1958. The counting rate determined at the Pfotzer maximum is compared with that recorded by the nucleonic detector at Mt. Washington (1909 m; lambda = 55-N). Large changes in the counting rate of each detector were observed, and the ratio of these changes is approximately 2: 1. Several large deviations from this normal ratio were also observed. These deviations occur for flights on which the shape of the intensity- altitude curve near the Pfotzer maxmum is quite different from the normal. These changes are explained in terms of either depressions of the lowenergy portion of the cosmic-ray spectrum following marked decreases in the nucleonic component, or the presence of excess low-energy radiation. An anomalous increase of approximately 100% was observed at high altitudes during one flight and was attributed to high-energy x radiation. It is found that the hemispherical average unidirectional intensity above the atmosphere derived from the counting rate at the Pfotzer maximum has decreased approximately 200% from 1954 to 1958 at lambda = 53-N, and this change is compared with results at other latitudes. (auth)