George Henry Lewes had praised Francis’s recent publications (see letter to Francis Darwin, [1 May 1876]).

Jemmy was Horace Darwin’s nickname; Francis possibly refers to a letter from Horace written on CD’s new typewriter. On 1 May 1876, Horace had sent George Howard Darwin a typewritten letter from London (DAR 258: 860), and he might have written to CD or Francis on the same day.

Francis and his wife, Amy Darwin, had been practising typing on a dummy printing machine in advance of the arrival of CD’s typewriter (see letter from Francis Darwin, [1 May 1876] and n. 4).

CD had asked Francis to send samples of soil to Edward Frankland (see letter from Francis Darwin, [1 May 1876] and n. 2).

Fritz was a dog belonging to Richard Matthews Ruck, Francis’s brother-in-law. Fritz ran away around 23 April 1876 (letter from Emma Darwin to Leonard Darwin, 24 April [1876] (DAR 239.23: 1.42)). Presumably he was found by William Gardner, vicar of Orpington, whose late wife, Emily Gardner, was a very distant relative of Amy Darwin. It is unclear why Fritz had been brought to Down; he was collected by Richard Ruck in October (see letter from Emma Darwin to H. E. Litchfield, [24–5 October 1876] (DAR 219.9: 142)).