It was indeed startling to read in the last number of the American Fern Journal (10: 88) that there was an earlier valid name for Polystichum. To me, at least, it was still more startling to read the assertion concerning Ehrhart's name Aetopteron: The type is clearly indicated to be Polypodium aculeatum L. No generic description is given, but the intent of the author is quite clear (italics mine). Evidently the writer of these words failed to observe that Ehrhart carefully explains his intent. Ehrhart prepared and distributed a set of exsiccatae under the title Phytophylacium, and inserted in his Beitrage (4: 145-150. 1789) a list of the species (ten decades, or one hundred in all). Each species in the list is assigned a single name, followed by its current binary one. At the end of the list is the following explanation; the translation here given is rather free, but believe closely approximates the sense of the original: I must here omit, for lack of space, the locality where each plant was collected. have reprinted, however, my 'nomina usualia'. Not that it seems to me to be of very much consequence, since they are nothing but an attempt to assign to each plant a name, that may be used for it alone, without an accompanying generic one, as suggested by Oeder in his 'Einleitung zur Krauterkenntniss,' ?141; but that a certain man by the name of Dahl, who is a particular friend of the idea, might derive some amusement from it, and that might accomodate him.