nse of a conscious
auditory sensation," the answer would obviously be, No, since there
can be no auditory sensation without an ear to hear it. If, on the
other hand, instead of the above phrase we add, "in the sense of
wave-vibrations in the air," the answer will obviously be, Yes, since
the wave-vibrations in the air do not depend on the presence of an
ear to be affected by them.

Likewise, in the question, If a man starts to walk around a squirrel
which is clinging to the limb of a tree, and if, as the man circles
the tree, the squirrel also circles the tree so that he constantly
faces the man, when the man has gone completely around the tree, has
he gone around the squirrel? Here the indefiniteness lies in the
meaning of to "go around." With this indefiniteness remedied, there is
no longer any possibility of difference of opinion.

Indefiniteness may come from the use of certain words that from their
very nature are indefinite in meaning. Such are the verbs _be_, _do_,
_have_, _become_, _happen_, and the prepositions _of_ and _about_.
Examples of indefiniteness growing out of such colorless words are
found in the following questions, which are types of many asked in our
schools daily:--

What does water _do_ when heated? (Expands, evaporates,
boils.)

What _happens_ when it lightnings? (Thunder, discharge of
electricity, flash.)

What must immigrants coming into this country _have_?
(Money, freedom from disease, character.)

What did Arnold _become_? (A traitor, a British general, an
outcast, a repentant man.)

What _is_ the cow? (A mammal, a quadruped, a producer of
milk, butter, and beef; an herbivorous animal.)

What _about_ the Monroe Doctrine? (A dozen different
things.)

What _of_ the animals in the temperate zone?

Questions may be so general as to be indefinite. The teacher asks,
"Where is Chicago?" The class may answer, "In Illinois on Lake
Michigan; in North America; in Cook County." The teacher should know
just what answer he desires, and then ask, "In what State; on what
continent; on what lake; or in what county?"

Other illustrations of vagueness coming from the use of words of too
general a meaning are found in such questions as, What _kind_ of man
was George Washington?

_When_ does a person need food?

_How_ does tobacco grow?

_What_ do birds like?

All indefinite questions deserve and usually recei