The exciton model for the y-emission was tested in its abilities to describe the radiative capture of 14 MeV neutrons over a wide scale of atomic numbers (A1-27, Sc-45, V-51, . Special attention was paid to the difference between the activation cross section and the cross section integrated over the prompt capture y-ray spectra. Relatively good agreement of theoretical and experimental data was obtained in this case, while the spectra agree in their gross structure only for medium weight and (possibly) heavy nuclei.