Radiation from high temperature plasmas produced in the ZETA and Thetatron discharges has been studied down to the soft X-ray region using grazing incidence spectrographs. Two forms of instrument have been used: one designed for laboratory studies and the other for solar observation from rockets. Both employ 600 line/mm ruled gratings at grazing angles between 1° and 4°. The resonance line of Ne IX at 13.44 Å is the shortest wavelength so far observed. New spectra are reported from Ne VII, Ne VIII, A IX, A X, A XI, A XII and Xe IX.