188a.] Analyses of Books. 429 
The mineral wealth of the district is not great. Schorl has at 
times been mistaken for coal. Diamonds are said to have been 
found, but the author has not been able to obtain any trustworthy 
information as to the exacft locality or the supply. There is, 
however, an a priori possibility of their existence in the Penner 
Gorge. There are beds of iron ore in the southern part of the 
region, but the metal has never been regularly smelted. There 
are signs of fairly rich copper ore on the northern side, but the 
attempts at their utilisation made within the last half century 
have been gostly failures. 
The Opium Habit ; its Successful Treatment by the Avena Sativa . 
A Paper read before the New York State Medical Society, 
February 9th, 1882. By E. H. M. Sell, A.M., M.D., &c. 
New York : Bermingham and Co. 
Admitting for argument’s sake— and it is a fairly strong con- 
cession — that the “ opium habit ” is as dreadful as it is pictured 
by professional philanthropists, and granting likewise that some 
principle or principles contained in the common oat cure the 
opium-eater and smoker of their craving for the drug, we do not 
see why oatmeal porridge or gruel should not simply be used in 
place of the extract here recommended. 
