In some cases (many species of Ascaris) the metamorphosis is reduced to a simple process of growth.
The weight of Malpighi's observations therefore fell into the scale of that doctrine which Harvey terms metamorphosis, in contradistinction to epigenesis.
He thus views the consecration of the elements as akin to other consecrations; and, like priestly ordination, as involving " a metamorphosis for the better," a phrase which later on became classical.
A dragonfly goes through a metamorphosis period just like a butterfly.
Much consideration has been given to the nature of metamorphosis in insects, to its value to the creatures and to the mode of its origin.