Temporary paralysis following a surgical operation due generally to accident or inadvertence is sufficiently common to justify the report of the following case, which I hope may be of service in preventing a similar accident to others: While I had met with loss of function in the peroneal muscles due to the prolonged compression of the external popliteal or peroneal nerve on the fibula as it passes along the outer side of that bone, and while my attention had been called to several cases of temporary paralysis of the extensor muscles of the forearm due to a compression of the musculospiral nerve against the edge of the operating table during prolonged narcosis, or as a result of a rubber tourniquet too tightly drawn, I had never met with any case of entire paralysis of the upper extremity caused by overstretching of the axillary plexus in the operation of removing the