Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/93

ARROWROOT. water, 81 per cent. nitrogen, free extract (mostly starch), 1.8 per cent. protein, and very small amounts of fat and ash.

Arrowroot is a light, opaque, white powder, which, when rubbed between the fingers, produces a slight crackling noise, like that heard when newly fallen snow is being made into a snowball. Through the microscope, the particles are seen to be convex, more or less elliptical, sometimes obscurely triangular, and not very different in size. The dry starch is inodorous, but when dissolved in boiling water has a slight peculiar smell, and swells up into a perfect jelly. Potato starch, with which it is often adulterated, may be distinguished by the greater size of its particles, their coarser and more distinct rings, and their more glistening appearance. Refined sago-flour is used for adulteration; many of its particles have a truncated extremity; their surface is irregular or tuberculated. Arrowroot is also sometimes adulterated with rice starch, and with the common starch of wheat flour.

Large quantities of arrowroot are annually imported into the United States and Europe. As an article of diet, it is often prepared for invalids and children by merely dissolving it in boiling water and flavoring with sugar, lemon-juice, wine, etc. It is also often prepared with milk, made into puddings, etc. When most simply prepared. it forms a light meal. Arrowroot is a carbohydrate food, and hence a source of energy. As it contains little nitrogen, it is not very valuable for building and repairing body-tissue. When combined with eggs and milk, which are nitrogenous foods, a better balanced article of diet results. See.

A starch somewhat similar to arrowroot and partly known by the distinct name of tous-les-mois, is obtained from some species of the allied genus Canna (q.v.). But East Indian arrowroot is in part obtained from the tubers of Curcuma angustifolia. Other species of Curcuma (see ), as Curcuma Zedoaria, Curcuma lencorhiza, and Curcuma rubescens, also yield a similar starch; the same tubers which, when young, yield a beautiful and pure starch, yielding turmeric when old. In Travancore this starch is the principal part of the food of the inhabitants. The young tubers of the galangale (q.v.), Altinia galanga, another plant of the same natural order (Seitamineæ), are another source of this starch. A starch somewhat resembling arrowroot, and often sold under that name, is obtained from different species of the natural order Cycadaceæ, as from the dwarf fleshy trunks of Zamia tenuis, Zamia furfuracea, and Zamia pumila in the West Indies, and from the large seeds of Dion edule, in the lowlands of Mexico. The Chinese prepare a similar starch from the tubers of species of Sagittaria. The starch of the cassava, manihot, or manioc (see ) is sometimes marketed under the name of Brazilian arrowroot. Potato starch, carefully prepared, is sometimes sold as English arrowroot, and the starch obtained from the roots of the Arum maculatum (see ), as Portland arrowroot. Otaheite arrowroot is the starch of Tacca (q.v.) pinnatifida. All these as well as cornstarch — the starch of maize or Indian corn — are so nearly allied to true arrowroot as not to be certainly distinguishable by chemical tests; but the forms of the granules differ, so that they can be distinguished by the microscope.

The name arrowroot is commonly said to have had its origin from the use of the fresh roots by the South American Indians as an application to wounds to counteract the effects of poisoned arrows; and the expressed juice has been recently recommended as an antidote to poisons, and a cure for the stings and bites of venomous insects and reptiles, But it is not improbable that, as has been said, the name is really another form of ara, the Indian name.

AR'ROWSMITH, (1750-1823). An English cartographer, born at Winston, in Durham. He went to London at the age of 20. His publications include numerous topographic and hydrographic maps and charts, executed with the greatest care. His map of Scotland appeared in 1807, his General Atlas in 1817. His work on the Geometrical Projection of Maps was published posthumously (London, 1825). His son Aaron and his nephew John also published a number of cartographic works, and John (1790-1873) was one of the founders of the Royal Geographical Society.

ARROYO MOLINOS, iir-ro'yo ni6-le'n6s (Sp. Mill Creek). A village in Estremadura, Spain. It is noted as the scene of the complete defeat of General Girard, one of Marshal Soult's lieutenants, by Lord Hill, October 28, 1811. General Girard had been sent out by Soult on a plundering foray with 5000 men, when he was surprised early in the morning by Hill, who had camped a league off at Alcuescar. The French colors, artillery, and 1300 prisoners were captured.

ARRU, a-roo', IS'LANDS. A group of islands in the Arafura Sea, situated between lati- tude 5° 10' and 6° 20' S. and longitude 134° and 135° E., southwest of New Guinea (Map: Australasia, F 3). It consists of one large island, divided into the five parts of Kola, Wokan, Kobrur, Tragan, and Maikor, and a number of small islands. The islands are generally low and inaccessible. The chief commercial centre is Dobo. The population is estimated at 15,000, and consists of Papuans. The group belongs to the Dutch and forms an administrative dependency of the Moluccas (q.v.).

ARSACES, iu-'sa-sez. See.

ARSACIDÆ, ar-sas'i-de, or AR'SACIDS. The name of the royal dynasty which ruled over the Parthian monarchy from its foundation in the middle of the Third Century B.C. until its destruction by the Persian Sassanidæ in A.D. 226. A branch of the dynasty was established on the throne of Armenia about B.C. 150, and outlived the Parthian Arsacidæ. The accounts concerning the Arsaeidæ which have been transmitted to us by the ancient historians are exceedingly vague, confused, and contradictory, and modern criticism has found itself unable to reconcile or simplify the conflicting statements. The most important members of the dynasty of the Parthian Arsacidæ were Arsaces I. and Arsaces VI.

(Gk. 'Apo-tiKr;!, Arsakes) I. delivered Parthia from the dominion of the Seleucidæ, kings of Syria. He is said by some to have been a Scythian by blood. An atrocious in- sult offered to his brother Tiridates by Phere- cles or Agathocles, the Macedonian satrap of the country, is said to have fired his spirit and driven him to rebel. The Macedonians were ex- pelled in B.C. 250. Antiochus Theos, King of Sy-