3. OBJECTS OF ORNAMENT AND DRESS.--As regards the objects coming under this category, if we exclude the fibulæ and torques, which we now know to have been worn by men as well as women, it is noteworthy that those peculiar to female adornment are extremely rare, if not entirely awanting--a fact which strongly supports the theory that this station was a military fort. _Fibulæ_ (=Fig. 91=).--The number of fibulæ from La Tène now amounts to several hundreds. They are all made on one principle, viz. that of our modern safety-pins. This principle is simply an evolutionary stage of the function of the straight pin, by which the point is bent round so as to meet the top after having subjected the stem to several twists so as to give it elasticity. In the part corresponding to the top of the pin there is a catch for the point when fastened. The ornamentation on the upper part and the number of spiral twists on the stem are so varied that each fibula has a distinct individuality of its own, and no two specimens exactly alike have ever yet been found. Their average size is from two to six inches in length, but sometimes they exceed this, as in one here figured (No. 1), which is 10½ inches in length. They are almost exclusively made of iron (Nos. 1 to 6), the exceptions being one or two of bronze (Nos. 18 and 26), and a small circular-shaped brooch of gold (B. 428, p. 28), which are somewhat analogous to those of the Hallstadt period. [Illustration: =Fig. 91.=--LA TÈNE. No. 32 = ⅓, and the rest = ½ real size.] _Pins, Needles, etc._--The ornamental pins are few in number, and generally made of bronze. Of four here figured (Nos. 8, 9, 10, and 36) one has a double stem, and is so similar to some half-dozen found in the Pfahlbauten of the Bronze Age that it is more likely to be a stray object from the latter than a relic of La Tène. Nor is this at all improbable, as we have already seen that there were several of these stations quite in the vicinity of La Tène, the relic-beds of which have become almost entirely disintegrated by the waves. A remarkable object, found by Vouga, consists of an ornamental bronze tube, closed at one end, and having six movable rings symmetrically arranged (No. 19). There can be no doubt this was a needle-holder, as it contained a well-formed needle of iron (No. 20). Another curious object, having an eye like that of a needle, terminating in an elongated bulb instead of a sharp point, is represented by No. 15. _Buckles, Rings, etc._--A large assortment of iron clasps (Nos. 27 and 30), buckles (Nos. 28 and 32), rings (No. 33), etc., is to be found in all the collections from La Tène. There are also to be met with a few beads and buttons of bronze (No. 23), and some glass beads of a pretty blue colour, or variegated with blue, yellow, and white (Nos. 22, 24, and 25). One has part of a bronze twisted wire passing through it (No. 21).