  In 1998 and 1999 the Whipple Observatory 10 m telescope was used to search
for diffuse gamma ray emission from the Galactic Plane. No signifiant evidence
of emission was found. Assuming the TeV emission profile matches EGRET
observations above 1 GeV with a differential spectral index of 2.4, we derive
an upper limit of {$\rm {3.0\cdot10^{-8}cm^{-2}s^{-1}sr^{-1}}$} for the average
diffuse emission above {{$\rm500 GeV$}} in the galactic latitude range from
{{$\rm-2^o$ to $\rm +2^o$}} at galactic longitude {{$\rm 40^o$}}. Comparisons
with EGRET observations provide a lower limit of 2.31 for the differential
spectral index of the diffuse emission, assuming there is no break in the
spectrum between 30 GeV and 500 GeV. This constrains models for diffuse
emission with a significant inverse Compton contribution.
