AARD-WOLF (earth-wolf), a South and East African carnivorous mammal (Proteles cristatus), in general appearance like a small striped hyena, but with a more pointed muzzle, sharpe ears, and a long erectile mane down the middle line of the neck and back. It is of nocturnal and burrowing habits, and feeds on decomposed animal substances, larvae and termites.

AARGAU (Fr. Argovie), one of the more northerly Swiss cantons, comprising the lower course of the river Aar (q.v.), whence its name. Its total area is 541.9 sq. m., of which 517.9 sq. m. are classed as ``productive'' (forests covering 172 sq. m. and vineyards 8.2 sq. m.). It is one of the least mountainous Swiss cantons, forming part of a great table-land, to the north of the Alps and the east of the Jura, above which rise low hills. The surface of the country is beautifully diversified, undulating tracts and well-wooded hills alternating with fertile valleys watered mainly by the Aar and its tributaries. It contains the famous hot sulphur springs of Baden (q.v.) and Schinznach, while at Rheinfelden there are very extensive saline springs. Just below Brugg the Reuss and the Limmat join the Aar, while around Brugg are the ruined castle of Habsburg, the old convent of Konigsfelden (with fine painted medieval glass) and the remains of the Roman settlement of Vindonissa [Windisch]. The total population in 1900 was 206,498, almost exclusively German-speaking, but numbering 114,176 Protestants to 91,039 Romanists and 990 Jews. The capital of the canton is Aarau (q.v.), while other important towns are Baden (q.v.), Zofingen (4591 inhabitants), Reinach (3668 inhabitants), Rheinfelden (3349 inhabitants), Wohlen (3274 inhabitants), and Lenzburg (2588 inhabitants). Aargau is an industrious and prosperous canton, straw-plaiting, tobacco-growing, silk-ribbon weaving, and salmon-fishing in the Rhine being among the chief industries. As this region was, up to 1415, the centre of the Habsburg power, we find here many historical old castles (e.g. Habsburg, Lenzburg, Wildegg), and former monasteries (e.g. Wettingen, Muri), founded by that family, but suppressed in 1841, this act of violence being one of the main causes of the civil war called the ``Sonderbund War,'' in 1847 in Switzerland. The cantonal constitution dates mainly from 1885, but since 1904 the election of the executive council of five members is made by a direct vote of the people. The legislature consists of members elected in the proportion of one to every 1100 inhabitants. The ``obligatory referendum'' exists in the case of all laws, while 5000 citizens have the right of ``initiative'' in proposing bills or alterations in the cantonal constitution. The canton sends 10 members to the federal Nationalrat, being one for every 20,000, while the two Standerate are (since 1904) elected by a direct vote of the people. The canton is divided into eleven administrative districts, and contains 241 communes.

1415 the Aargau region was taken from the Habsburgs by the Swiss Confederates. Bern kept the south-west portion (Zofingen, Aarburg, Aarau, Lenzburg, and Brugg), but some districts, named the Freie Amter or ``free bailiwicks'' (Mellingen, Muri, Villmergen, and Bremgarten), with the county of Baden, were ruled as ``subject lands'' by all or certain of the Confederates. In 1798 the Bernese bit became the canton of Aargau of the Helvetic Republic, the remainder forming the canton of Baden. In 1803, the two halves (plus the Frick glen, ceded in 1802 by Austria to the Helvetic Republic) were united under the name of Kanton Aargau, which was then admitted a full member of the reconstituted Confederation.

See also Argovia (published by the Cantonal Historical Society), Aarau, from 1860; F. X. Bronner, Der Kanton Aargau, 2 vols., St Gall and Bern, 1844; H. Lehmann, Die argauische Strohindustrie, Aarau, 1896; W. Merz, Die mittelalt. Burganlagen und Wehrbauten d. Kant. Argau (fine illustrated work on castles), Aarau, 2 vols., 1904--1906; W. Merz and F. E. Welti, Die Rechtsquellen d. Kant. Argau, 3 vols., Aarau, 1898--1905; J. Muller, Der Aargau, 2 vols., Zurich, 1870; E. L. Rochholz, Aargauer Weisthumer, Atarau, 1877; E. Zschokke, Geschichte des Aargaus, Aarau, 1903. (W. A. B. C.)

AARHUS, a seaport and bishop's see of Denmark, on the east coast of Jutland, of which it is the principal port; the second largest town in the kingdom, and capital of the amt (county) of Aarhus. Pop. (1901) 51,814. The district is low-lying, fertile and well wooded. The town is the junction of railways from all parts of the country. The harbour is good and safe, and agricultural produce is exported, while coal and iron are among the chief imports. The cathedral of the 13th century (extensively restored) is the largest church in Denmark. There is a museum of art and antiquities. To the south-west (13 m. by rail), a picturesque region extends west from the railway junction of Skanderborg, including several lakes, through which flows the Gudenaa, the largest river in Jutland, and rising ground exceeding 500 ft. in the Himmelbjerg. The railway traverses this pleasant district of moorland and wood to Silkeborg, a modern town having one of the most attractive situations in the kingdom. The bishopric of Aarhus dates at least from 951.

AARON, the traditional founder and head of the Jewish priesthood, who, in company with Moses, led the Israelites out of Egypt (see EXODUS; MOSES) . The greater part of his life-history is preserved in late Biblical narratives, which carry back existing conditions and beliefs to the time of the Exodus, and find a precedent for contemporary hierarchical institutions in the events of that period. Although Aaron was said to have been sent by Yahweh (Jehovah) to meet Moses at the ``mount of God'' (Horeb, Ex.iv.27),he plays only a secondary part in the incidents at Pharaoh's court. After the ``exodus'' from Egypt a striking account is given of the vision of the God of Israel vouchsafed to him and to his sons Nadab and Abihu on the same holy mount (Ex. xxiv. 1 seq. 9-11), and together with Hur he was at the side of Moses when the latter, by means of his wonder-working rod, enabled Joshua to defeat the Amalekites (xvii. 8-16). Hur and Aaron were left in charge of the Israelites when Moses and Joshua ascended the mount to receive the Tables of the Law (xxiv. 12-15), and when the people, in dismay at the prolonged absence of their leader, demanded a god, it was at the instigation of Aaron that the golden calf was made (see CALF, GOLDEN). This was regarded as an act of apostasy which, according to one tradition, led to the consecration of the Levites, and almost cost Aaron his life (cp. Deut. ix. 20). The incident paves the way for the account of the preparation of the new tables of stone which contain a series of laws quite distinct from the Decalogue (q.v.) (Ex. xxxiii. seq.). Kadesh, and not Sinai or Horeb, appears to have been originally the scene of these incidents (Deut. xxxiii. 8 seq. compared with Ex. xxxii. 26 sqq.), and it was for some obscure offence at this place that both Aaron and Moses were prohibited from entering the Promised Land (Num. xx.). In what way they had not ``sanctified'' (an allusion in the Hebrew to Kadesh ``holy'') Yahweh is quite uncertain, and it would appear that it was for a similar offence that the sons of Aaron mentioned above also met their death (Lev. x. 3; cp. Num. xx. 12, Deut. xxxii. 51). Aaron is said to have died at Moserah (Deut. x. 6), or at Mt. Hor; the latter is an unidentified site on the border of Edom (Num. xx. 23, xxxiii. 37; for Moserah see ib. 30-31), and consequently not in the neighbourhood of Petra, which has been the traditional scene from the time of Josephus (Ant. iv. 4. 7).

Several difficulties in the present Biblical text appear to have arisen from the attempt of later tradition to find a place for Aaron in certain incidents. In the account of the contention between Moses and his sister Miriam (Num. xii.), Aaron occupies only a secondary position, and it is very doubtful whether he was originally mentioned in the older surviving narratives. It is at least remarkable that he is only thrice mentioned in Deuteronomy (ix. 20, x. 6, xxxii. 50). The post-exilic narratives give him a greater share in the plagues of Egypt, represent him as high-priest, and confirm his position by the miraculous budding of his rod alone of all the rods of the other tribes (Num. xvii.; for parallels see Gray comm. ad loc., p. 217). The latter story illustrates the growth of the older exodus-tradition along with the development of priestly ritual: the old account of Korah's revolt against the authority of Moses has been expanded, and now describes (a) the divine prerogatives of the Levites in general, and (b) the confirmation of the superior privileges of the Aaronites against the rest of the Levites, a development which can scarcely be earlier than the time of Ezekiel (xliv. 15 seq.).

Aaron's son Eleazar was buried in an Ephraimite locality known after the grandson as the ``hill of Phinehas'' (Josh. xxiv. 33). Little historical information has been preserved of either. The name Phinehas (apparently of Egyptian origin) is better known as that of a son of Eli, a member of the priesthood of Shiloh, and Eleazar is only another form of Eliezer the son of Moses, to whose kin Eli is said to have belonged. The close relation between Aaronite and Levitical names and those of clans related to Moses is very noteworthy, and it is a curious coincidence that the name of Aaron's sister Miriam appears in a genealogy of Caleb (1 Chron. iv. 17) with Jether (cp. JETHRO) and Heber (cp. KENITES). In view of the confusion of the traditions and the difficulty of interpreting the details sketched above, the recovery of the historical Aaron is a work of peculiar intricacy. He may well have been the traditional head of the priesthood, and R. H. Kennett has argued in favour of the view that he was the founder of the cult at Bethel (Journ. of Theol. Stud., 1905, pp. 161 sqq.), corresponding to the Mosaite founder of Dan (q.v.). This throws no light upon the name, which still remains quite obscure: and unless Aaron (Aharon) is based upon Aron, ``ark'' (Redslob, R. P. A. Dozy, J. P. N. Land), names associated with Moses and Aaron, which are, apparently, of South Palestinian (or North-Arabian) origin.