The data analytical problem of testing whether an empirical set of n given points in the plane could be considered to contain too many straight line configurations in a situation where the generating mechanism of the n points is unknown, was recently reintroduced to the literature by D. G. Kendall and W. S. Kendall[7]. Taking the Land's end data problem (cf. also Broadbent [1] and further references given there) as the anchor point and motivation for their discussion, D. G. and W. S. Kendall developed a new testing device, called the pontogram. The pontogram is a one- parameter stochastic process defined pointwise by
![](//static.cambridge.org/content/id/urn%3Acambridge.org%3Aid%3Aarticle%3AS0305004100069449/resource/name/S0305004100069449_eqnU1.gif?pub-status=live)
where N denotes a Poisson process in [0, 1] with N(0) = 0 and unknown intensity parameter μ > 0 and where R = N(1) gives the number of Poisson events in the entire [0, 1] section.