Abstract: Spectroscopic apparatus for sequentially detecting the presence of a plurality of elements in a sample. The apparatus includes a plurality of lamps (1a-1e) each of which is for detecting the presence of a respective at least one predetermined element in a plurality of elements. A beam selector (13) which may be a mirror, is operative to direct a beam of light (7) from any one of lamps (1a-1e) to an analysis zone (8). The apparatus includes a monochromator (15), the drive (24) of which is under the control of a controller (25) with a memory device (26) linked thereto. Predetermined settings for the monochromator corresponding to the peak settings for each wavelength of interest can be stored in memory (26) for subsequently driving the monochromator to those settings without the need to undertake a peaking routine for each elemental analysis, thereby saving analyses time.