ARNSWALDE

arnswalde, a town of germany, in the kingdom of prussia, in a marshy district between four lakes, 20 m. s.w. of stargard and on the main line between that place and posen. besides the gothic church there are no noteworthy public buildings. its industries include iron founding, machinery, and manufactures of cloth, matches and starch. pop. (1900) 8665. arnulf (c. 850-899), roman emperor, illegitimate son of carloman, king of bavaria and italy, was made margrave of carinthia about 876, and on his father's death in 880 his dignity and possessions were confirmed by the new king of the east franks, louis iii. the failure of legitimate male issue of the later carolingians gave arnulf a more important position than otherwise he would have occupied; but he did homage to the emperor charles the fat in 882, and spent the next few years in constant warfare with the slavs and the northmen. in 887, however, arnulf identified himself with the disgust felt by the bavarians and others at the incapacity of charles the fat. gathering a large army, he marched to tribur; charles abdicated and the germans recognized arnulf as their king, a proceeding which l. von ranke describes as "the first independent action of the german secular world." arnulf's real authority did not extend far beyond the confines of bavaria, and he contented himself with a nominal recognition of his supremacy by the kings who sprang up in various parts of the empire. having made peace with the moravians, he gained a great and splendid victory over the northmen near louvain in october 891, and in spite of some opposition succeeded in establishing his illegitimate son, zwentibold, as king of the district afterwards called lorraine. invited by pope formosus to deliver him from the power of guido iii., duke of spoleto, who had been crowned emperor, arnulf went to italy in 894, but after storming bergamo and receiving the homage of some of the nobles at pavia, he was compelled by desertions from his army to return. the restoration of peace with the moravians and the death of guido prepared the way for a more successful expedition in 895 when rome was stormed by his troops; and arnulf was crowned emperor by formosus in february 896. he then set out to establish his authority in spoleto, but on the way was seized with paralysis. he returned to bavaria, where he died on the 8th of december 899, and was buried at regensburg. he left, by his wife ota, a son louis surnamed the child. arnulf possessed the qualities of a soldier, and was a loyal supporter of the church. see "annales fuldenses" in the _monumenta germaniae historica. scriptores_, band i. (hanover and berlin, 1826); e. dummler, _geschichte des ostfrankischen reichs_ (leipzig, 1887-1888); m.j.l. de gagern, _arnulfi imperatoris vita_ (bonn, 1837); e. dummler, _de arnulfo francorum rege_ (berlin, 1852); w.b. wenck, _die erhebung arnulfs und der zerfall des karolingischen reiches_ (leipzig, 1852); o. dietrich, _beitrage zur geschichte arnolfs von karnthen und ludwigs des kindes_ (berlin, 1890); e. muhlbacher, _die regesten des kaiserreichs unter den karolingern_ (innsbruck, 1881). aroideae (arum family), a large and wide-spread botanical order of monocotyledons containing about 1000 species in 105 genera. it is generally distributed in temperate and tropical regions, but especially developed in warm countries. the common british representative of the order, _arum maculatum_ (cuckoo-pint, lords and ladies, or wake robin), gives a meagre idea of its development. the plants are generally herbaceous, often, however, reaching a gigantic size, but are sometimes shrubby, as in _pothos_, a genus of shrubby climbing plants, chiefly malayan. _monstera_ is a tropical american genus of climbing shrubs, with large often much-perforated leaves; the fruiting spikes of a mexican species, _m. deliciosa_, are eaten. the roots of the climbing species are of interest in their adaptation to the mode of life of the plant. for instance, some species of _philodendron_ have a growth like that of ivy, with feeding roots penetrating the soil and clasping roots which fix the plant to its support. in other species of the genus the seed germinates on a branch, and the seedling produces clasping roots, and roots which grow downwards hanging like stout cords, and ultimately reaching the ground. the leaves, which show great variety in size and form, are generally broad and net-veined, but in sweet-flag (_acorus calamus_) are long and narrow with parallel veins. in _arum_ the blade is simple, as also in the so-called arum-lily (_richardia_), a south african species common in britain as a greenhouse plant, and in _caladium_, a tropical south american genus, and _alocasia_ (tropical asia), species of which are favourite warm-greenhouse plants on account of their variegated leaves. in other genera the leaves are much divided and sometimes very large; those of _dracontium_ (tropical america) may be 15 ft. high, with a long stem-like stalk and a much-branched spreading blade. the east indian genus _amorphophallus_ has a similar habit. a good series of tropical aroids is to be seen in the aroid house at kew. the so-called water cabbage (_pistia stratiotes_) is a floating plant widely distributed in the tropics, and consisting of rosettes of broadish leaves several inches across and a tuft of roots hanging in the water. [illustration: _arum maculatum_, cuckoo-pint. 1. leaves and inflorescence. 2. underground root-stock. 3. lower part of spathe cut open. 4. spike of fruits. showing in succession (from below) female flowers, male flowers, and sterile flowers forming a ring of hairs borne on the spadix.] the small flowers are densely crowded on thick fleshy spikes, which are associated with, and often more or less enveloped by, a large leaf (bract), the so-called spathe, which, as in cuckoo-pint, where it is green in colour, _richardia_, where it is white, creamy or yellow, _anthurium_, where it is a brilliant scarlet, is often the most striking feature of the plant. the details of the structure of the flower show a wide variation; the flowers are often extremely simple, sometimes as in _arum_, reduced to a single stamen or pistil. the fruit is a berry--the scarlet berries of the cuckoo-pint are familiar objects in the hedges in late summer. the plants generally contain an acrid poisonous juice. the underground stems (rhizomes or tubers) are rich in starch; from that of _arum maculatum_ portland arrowroot was formerly extensively prepared by pounding with water and then straining; the starch was deposited from the strained liquid. the order is represented in britain by _arum maculatum_, a low herbaceous plant common in woods and hedgerows in england, but probably not wild in scotland. it grows from a whitish root-stock which sends up in the spring a few long-stalked, arrow-shaped leaves of a polished green, often marked with dark blotches. these are followed by the inflorescence, a fleshy spadix bearing in the lower part numerous closely crowded simple unisexual flowers and continued above into a purplish or yellowish appendage; the spadix is enveloped by a leafy spathe, constricted in the lower part to form a chamber, in which are the flowers. the mouth of this chamber is protected by a ring of hairs pointing downwards, which allow the entrance but prevent the escape of small flies; after fertilization of the pistils the hairs wither. the insects visit the plant in large numbers, attracted by the foetid smell, and act as carriers of the pollen from one spathe to another. as the fruit ripens the spathe withers, and the brilliant red berries are exposed. the sweet-flag _acorus calamus_ (q.v.), which occurs apparently wild in england in ditches, ponds, &c., is supposed to have been introduced.