1. Thirty-one patients treated with the Ellis plate for Smith's fracture have been examined and the results of the operation are presented.

2. The Type 1 fractures can usually be treated equally well by plaster or by internal fixation. The only compelling indication for open reduction and fixation with the Ellis plate is persistent anterior angulation at the fracture site despite the external splintage.

3. The Type 2 fracture should be treated by open reduction and fixation with the Ellis plate.

4. The Ellis plate is not indicated for the routine treatment of Type 3 fractures.

1. A case of cervical cord compression due to a congenital anomaly of the arch of the axis, treated successfully by decompressive laminectomy twenty-six years after the onset of symptoms, is described.

2. The significance of bony abnormalities of the cervical spine as a treatable cause of spastic tetraparesis is stressed.