The third class of spear-heads consists of those with loops at the base of the blade connecting it with the socket. There are many varieties of this class, which includes some of the most elegant forms of these ancient weapons. The reason for adopting this particular kind of loop appears to be that they were, when thus attached to the blade, less liable to be broken off or damaged than when they formed isolated projections from the socket. The spear-heads were also more readily polished and furbished when the socket was left as a plain tube. The loops are very frequently formed by the continuation of two ribs along the margin of the blade, which are curved inwards from the base of the blade until they join the socket. A good example of this formation of the loop is shown in Fig. 405. The original was found at Elford, Northumberland, and is in the collection of Canon Greenwell, F.R.S. Another of nearly the same form, but without the ribs on the blade, was found near Lowthorpe, Yorkshire, E.R., and is in the possession of Mr. T. Boynton, of Ulrome Grange. The very graceful spear-head shown in Fig. 406 was found at Isleham Fen, Cambridge, in 1863, and is a remarkably fine casting, the cavity for the reception of the shaft being no less than 12¼ inches in length, and perfectly central in the blade. [Illustration: Fig. 406.—Isleham Fen. ½] I have another spear-head of the same type (18 inches), probably from the Thames, almost as well cast, but rather heavier in proportion to its size. There are traces of wood in the socket, as is also the case in another of the same form (14½ inches) dredged from the Thames at Battersea,[1259] and now in the Bateman Collection. The wood has been thought to be ash. Another similar, but originally about 20 inches long, was found in the Thames near Runnymede;[1260] and another in the collection of General A. Pitt Rivers, F.R.S., 17 inches long, was found at Hampton Court. Another (13¾ inches) from the Thames at Thames Ditton is in the British Museum. One (15¼ inches) from Bottisham Lode, Cambridge, is in the British Museum; as is another (14¼ inches) from the New River Works, Pentonville. I have seen others from Coveney Fen (16¾ inches, Mr. Fisher), and from Woolpit, near Bury St. Edmunds (8⅞ inches). The blade of one (11⅜ inches) without the socket was found at Stanwick, Yorkshire, and is now in the British Museum. One (13½ inches) was found with three rapier-shaped blades near Maentwrog, Merionethshire, and is in the same collection.[1261] Another, broken, in the Museum at Taunton, is said to have been found in the Roman villa at Wadsford, Combe St. Nicholas, near Chard. Its original length must have been about 18 inches.