False statements which amount to a mere matter 135 Woodruff vs. State, 61 Ark., 179;

Weyman vs. People, 4 Hun.

(N. Y.), 516; People vs.

Baker, 96 N. Y., 304; Sharp vs. State, 53 N. J. L., 511. 136 State vs. Hurst, 11 W. Va., 54;

Rex vs. Williams, 76 C & P.

354; Hughes Cr. Law, Sec. 618. 137 Com. vs. Coe, 115 Mass., 481;

State vs. Wilson, 143 Mo., 334;

1 McClain Or. Law, Sec. 680. 138 Schayer vs. People, 5 Colo. App., 75; Camell vs. State, 85 Md., 1. 139 Com. vs. Drew, 153 Mass., 588;

Jackson vs. People, 126 Ill., 139 140 People vs. Baker, 96 N. Y., 340;

Jackson vs. People, 126 Ill., 139 141 Com. vs. Devlin, 141 Mass., 423;

State vs. Rivers, 58 Iowa, 102;

Hughes Cr. Law, Sec. 644. 142 Ochs vs. People. 124 Ill.. 426.

of opinion are not the basis of false pretense, such for instance as a representation of the value of property offered for sale, or any praising or puffing of property in offering it for sale.143

So a statement made by a witch doctor that another was possessed of witches and that he could banish them is only the expression of an opinion.144