but the majority may perhaps be assumed to have been those of the native divinity.
So far, then, the monuments agree with the purport of Caesar's words in regard to Mercury; and if we now go beyond the boundaries of the Allobrogic state, we shall find them strongly supported both by the distribution of the inscriptions and the number of the statuettes of the god: the latter prove in some instances of very considerable metallic value—such, for example, as the massive silver Mercury dug up in the gardens of the Luxembourg. M. Gaidoz, in his far too brief account of the religion of the Gauls, speaks of the universality of the worship of Mercury among the Gauls, and calls attention to the number of place-names which bear evidence to it.[1] He mentions the following, but the list might be enlarged: Montmercure, Mercœur, Mercoiray, Mercoire, Mercoiset, Mercuer, Mercurette, Mercurey, Merourie, Mercurot, Mercury. Several such names occur on Allobrogic ground, and the department of the Puy de Dôme, so named from the late Latin word podium, a hill or mountain, contains another podium or puy, known as the Puy de Mercœur; and this last designation, accommodated to the habits of another dialect, yields Montmercure, the name of another place. This completes M. Gaidoz's list,[2] and I would call special attention to the last two as it is noticed that the Gaulish
