'Early on the evening of the 22nd [April] I selected a few chrysalides of Populi [the Poplar Hawk Moth, page 209] which, from the looseness of their cases, were thought to be just on the point of emerging. At 8.46 one of them showed signs of restlessness; and, after a few vigorous movements, during which it rolled itself over on the glass [I had placed the pupae on a piece of plate glass so that slight movements might be more easily detected], the front of its case was suddenly thrust off with considerable force; and in _less than four seconds_ the imago was quite free and crawling on the table. After trying hard to reach a higher point than was provided for about four minutes, it rested to expand its wings--now about seven-sixteenths of an inch long, or one-third the total length of the body. At 9 o'clock the wings reached half the length of the body, and were much curled. At 9.12 they were fully expanded and straightened out.' From this extract we see that the whole period from the bursting of the case to the full expansion of the wings was only twenty-six minutes; and it will be well to remind the reader that the process occupies even a much shorter time than this with many species, both of butterflies and moths. It will be observed, also, that the _evening_ was chosen as the time for the observation. There was a reason for this. The Poplar Hawk Moth, as is the case with many others, almost invariably emerges from the chrysalis in the evening--usually after dark. But it may be mentioned in passing that a far larger number of the _Lepidoptera_ as invariably emerge in the morning. Again we will return to our newly emerged insect, for there are still one or two interesting points to observe. The wings have fully expanded, it is true, but how very limp they are! Take the creature on the tip of your finger and hold it so that its body is in a horizontal position. Immediately the wings bend downward with their own weight, so soft and flexible are they. The body, too, is still very soft, and apparently much too heavy for flight. Then, if you place it on a flat surface, it will immediately try to find some perpendicular or overhanging surface from which it can suspend itself by means of its legs, so that the pendant and straightened wings are in the best possible position for drying. As the insect walks away in search of such a resting place, the body still drags as it did before, and the wings bend over, either both on one side or one on each side of the body.