Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis, a term applied in ancient mythology to the frequent transformation of human beings into beasts, stones, trees, and even into fire, water, or the like, which are essential parts of popular folklore everywhere. These metamorphoses afforded a subject to Greek poets and writers of the Alexandrine period, and to Ovid among the Romans. See BEAST-FABLES and FOLKLORE.—In Zoology the term Metamorphosis is applied to such marked changes as those from caterpillar to insect, or from tadpole to frog, where the young form or larva is strikingly different from the adult. See the articles on Amphibia, Caterpillar, Crustacea, Echinoderms, Frog, Insects, &c.; and for Metamorphosis in Botany, see MORPHOLOGY and FLOWER.—In Geology the term metamorphism is applied to the alteration undergone by rocks under heat, pressure, and other influences, so that they assume a crystalline or semi-crystalline structure. See GEOLOGY, Vol. V. p. 151.