It was, of course, quite right to make a list of these, to draw up, as it were, a chart of them, but the conclusion is not justified.

The name, instead of being earlier, is really later, and is a witness, not to the origin, but to the success and rapid popularity of his novel.

No one has ever yet produced a written passage or any ancient testimony to prove the existence of the name before Rabelais.

To place such a tradition on a sure basis, positive traces must be forthcoming; and they cannot be adduced even for the most celebrated of these monuments, since he mentions himself the great menhir near Poitiers, which he christened by the name of Passelourdin.

That there is something in the theory is possible.