Sentence:  I wonder'd at ſuch a <WSD>Metamorphoſis</WSD> in ſo ſhort a time, he told me, 'twas for the death of his Wife, that Nature had thus antedated his Years ; 'tis true, that a weighty ſetled ſorrow is of that force, that beſides the contraction of the Spirits, it will work upon the radical moiſture, and dry it up, ſo that the Hair can have no moiſture at the Root. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A transformation, such as one performed by magic.