M E sr 
chite£lare, not only the whole but the principal members 
fliould be great. AcldiJ'on.- —One of a community.—Sienna 
is adorned with many towers of brick, which, in the time 
of the commonwealth, were eredted to fuch of the members 
as had done fervice to their country. Addijbn. 
Mean as I am, yet have the Mufes made 
Me free, a member of the tuneful trade. Dryden. 
MEM'BERED, adj. Furnifhed with members. In he¬ 
raldry, when the beak, or legs, or feet, of an eagle, griffin, 
or other bird, are of a different colour from the reft of the 
body. 
MEM'BlG, a town of Syria, in the pachalicof Aleppo : 
thirty miles north of Aleppo, and twenty fouth-eaft of 
An tab. 
MEM'BRANE, f. [Fr. from membrana, Lat.] A mem¬ 
brane is a web of feveral forts of fibres, interwoven together 
for the covering and wrapping up fome parts : the fibres 
of the membranes give them an elafticity, whereby they 
can contradl, and clofely grafp the parts they contain, and 
their nervous fibres give them an exquifite fenfe, which is 
the caufe of their contradtion ; they can, therefore, fcarce- 
ly fuffer the fharpnefs of medicines, and are difficultly 
united when wounded. Quincy. 
They obftacle find none 
Of membrane, joint, or limb, exclulive bars : 
Eafier than air with air, if fpirits embrace. 
Total they mix. Milton. 
MEMBRANA'CEOUS, Membra'neous, or Mem¬ 
branous, adj. Confiding of membranes.—Lute-ftrings, 
which are made of the membraneous parts of the guts 
ftrongly wreathed, fwell fo much as to break in wet wea¬ 
ther. Boyle. —Anodyne fubfcances, which take off con- 
tradtions of the membranous parts, are diuretick. Arbutlmot. 
—Birds of prey have membranaceous, not mufcular, fto- 
machs. Arbutlmot on Aliments. 
MEM'BURY, a village in Devonfhire, on the fouth- 
weft fide of Chard. It has the ruins of a caftle ; is noted 
for the bed Devonfhire cheefe ; and has a fair Auguft 10. 
MEME'CYLON, [a name adopted from Dicfcorides, 
whofe yey.uv.v\a is a fynonym for the fruit of the Arbutus, 
or ftrawberry-tree; and feems to be derived from y.aa, 
to defire, or long for, in allufion to the tempting appear¬ 
ance of thofe berries.] In botany, a genus of the clafs oc- 
tandria, order monogynia, natural order of calyciflorae, 
(onagrse, Juff.) Generic charadters—Calyx : perianthium 
undivided, fuperior, bell-fhaped, turbinate, quite entire, 
with a pitcher-fhaped ftriated bale, permanent. Corolla : 
petals four, ovate, acute, fpreading. Stamina : filaments 
eight, eredt, widened and truncated at top; antheras dim¬ 
ple, inferted by their lides into the apex of the filament. 
Fiftillum: germen turbinate, inferior; flyle awl-ffiaped; 
ftigma fimple. Pericarpium : berry crowned with a cy¬ 
lindrical calyx.— Ejfential Character. Calyx fuperior with 
-a driated bale, and' the margin quite entire ; corolla one- 
petalied ; antherse inferted into the fide of the apex of the 
diament; berry crowned with a cylindrical calyx. 
j. Memecylon capitellatum, or Ceylon memecylon : 
leaves ovate, bluntifh; heads axillary, fubpeduncled. 
This is a tree with round branchlets. Leaves fmooth, op- 
pofite, quite entire, on very fhort petioles. Peduncles axil¬ 
lary, oppofite, folitary, fhort, terminated by a head of 
flowers. Allied to Vaccinium. Native of Ceylon, where 
it is faid by Hermannus to fupply the place of faffron in 
dyeing. 
z. Memecylon grande, or large-leaved memecylon: 
leaves ovate, acuminate ; peduncles axillary, with many- 
flowered pedicels. A large tree, with round branches. 
Leaves half a foot long. Native of the Eaft Indies. 
3. Memecylon umbellatum, or umbelled memecylon : 
berry inferior, globular, crowned with the calyx ; perma¬ 
nent, tubular, eight-ftreaked within ; cuticle coriaceous, 
thin; pulp watery, fugacious. Seeds two or only one, 
globular, very fmooth and even, fhining, pale chefnut- 
coloured, with a depreffed point at top. Gartner, ii. 207. 
VOL. XV. No. }025. 
M E M 73 
Berry fubglobular, twin, crowned with the bluntly 
four-toothed calyx, one-celled, two-feeded, fmooth, of a 
pale ftraw-colour. Bark becoming very thin, and as it 
were papery, by age. Tube of the calyx fmooth and even 
•within, without any veftige of Breaks. Seeds two, hemi- 
fpherical, very fmooth and even, fhining, dun-coloured. 
The berries are much fmaller, with a thinner fmooth bark ; 
the calyx is not at all ftriated within, the feeds are com¬ 
monly in pairs, and the peduncles of the berries are longifh 
and manifeftly corymbed. Gaertner (ii. 483.) affirms, that 
this is certainly Samara lseta of Linnams; in which Mr. 
Martyn thinks him wrong. 
4. Memecylon edule, or eatable memecylon : leaves 
dvate, acute; umbellets compound, naked. Trunk very 
irregular in fhape and fize, covered with a dark-coloured 
fcabrous bark. Branches numerous, nearly eredt. Leaves 
oppofite, fhort-petioled, ovate, fmooth, fhining, firm, en¬ 
tire, with fcarcely any veins; from three to four inches 
long, and from two to three broad. Umbellets many, 
compound, fmall; from fcabrous elevations, where the 
leaves flood, over the old woody branches. Peduncles 
common and partial, four-fided. Pedicels round, coloured. 
Seldom more than one feed comes to perfedlion, though in 
the germs the rudiments of many are to be feen. It is a 
very common fmall tree, or large fhrub, in every jungle on 
the coaft of Coromandel. It flowers about the beginning 
of the hot feafon. The ripe berries are eaten by the na¬ 
tives ; they have much pulp of a bluiffi-black colour, and 
of an aftringent quality. The foregoing defeription, and 
the accompanying figure, are copied from Dr. Roxburgh's 
Plants of Coromandel, vol. I. 
5. Memecylon ramiflorum, or naked-flowering memecy¬ 
lon : leaves elliptical, obtufe, on fhortifh ftalks, deciduous; 
umbels from the defoliated part of the branches, aggre¬ 
gate, compound, ftalked; ftyle capillary, four times as long 
as the petals. Native of Ceylon, and other parts* of the 
Eaft Indies. Very like the firft fpecies, except that the 
leaves are rather more oblong, flowers much more co¬ 
pious, from theleaflefs part of the branches, and effentially 
diltinguifhed by the great length and ilendernefs of their 
ftyle. 
6. Memecyion ovatum, or ovate memecylon : leaves 1 
ovate, bluntly pointed, veiny, on longifh ftalks, decidu¬ 
ous ; umbels from the defoliated part of the branches, 
aggregate, ftalked; ftyle thread-fhaped, four times as 
long as the petals. This fpecies differs widely from the 
laft in appearance, though nearly agreeing with it in fe¬ 
veral eflential charadters. The footllalks are above half 
an inch long; leaves near three inches, exactly ovate* 
with an elongated bluntifh point; flowers fmall, numer¬ 
ous, with a very long ftyle; the bottom of the calyx, 
above the germen, has eight elevated ribs, making as 
many furrows, which we find alfo in molt of the fpecies, 
as deferibed by Linnaeus. 
7. Memecylon acuminatum, or pointed memecylon : 
leaves on fhort ftalks, elliptical, pointed ; umbels axillary, 
ftalked, in pairs, fimple; ftyle about the length of the 
petals. Its leaves agree in fize with the preceding, but 
are elliptical, tapering at each end, with a longifh acut® 
point, and no perceptible veins; footftalks very fhort and 
thick. Umbels ufually in pairs, each umbel of four or five 
flowers; ftyle rather above half the length of the former, 
ftraight. 
8. Memecylon cordatum, or heart-leaved memecylon : 
leaves feffile, heart-fliaped, bluntifh; umbels axillary, 
ftalked, compound. Brought by Commerfon from the 
Ifle of Bourbon, where it is called Bois de Mays. Ga¬ 
thered alfo in the Mauritius by Aublet, who deicribes it 
as a tall and handfome tree, with a grey bark. The leaves 
of Commerfon’s fpecimen are from one to two inches 
long, and one broad, obfcurely veiny, more or lefs heart- 
fliaped at the bafe. Inflorefcence confifting of no great 
number of flowers, in a varioully-divided umbel, on a 
flender ftalk, full hqlf an inch long. See Epig^ea and 
Samara. 
U MEM'EL, 
