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MEMBRANE. for special physiolufiical |iuii)oses. The saliva, the gastric and pancreatic juices which aid di- gestion are examples of special secretions. The serous membranes are of two kinds: those lining visceral cavities, such as the pericardium, pleurie, and peritoneum ; and those lining joint cavities (synovial membranes). The third species of sim- ple membrane of Bichat is the fibrous, divided into two sections: enveloping aponeuroses, the fibrous capsules of joints and the sheaths of tendons: and the enveloping membrane of bone, the periostemn, the dura mater (the internal periosteum of the skull), the fibrous membrane of the spleen and of other glandular organs. See Splee.n. MEMBRANOLOGY (from Lat. incmbiaiia, membrane + Gk. -/.oyia, -logia, accoimt, from /.r)itr, h-yein, to .say). The study of the part of anatomy relating to membranes. See ilEll- BKAXE. MEMBRE, miixbra', Zexobius (1045-87). Aji early missionary to Canada, born at Ba- paiime, France. He became a recoUet of the Franciscan Order, and went as a missionary to Canada in 1G75; accompanied La Salle upon his expedition to the ilississippi in 1670, stop- ping at Fort Cr&vecceur, on Lake Peoria, where, with Father Gabriel do la Ribourde. he conducted a mission among the Illinois until driven by the Iroquois to the Jesuit settlement at Green Bay. He descended the Mississippi with La Salle in 1G82, and returned the same year to France, where he published an account of the expedition. After acting for a time as warden of a convent at Bapaume, he came again to America with La Salle in his final e.xpedition by sea to Texas in 1G84. and remained in Fort Saint Louis, where, with his companions, he was massacred by the Indians. Consult Shea. Discovery and Ejcplora- tiun of the ilississippi Valley (Xew York. 1852). MEMEL, ma'niel. A river emptying into the Baltic. See Xiemex. MEMEL. A town of Prussia, in the Province of East Prussia, the most northern town of Ger- man}' and an important seaport, situated near the Russian border at the entrance of the Dange into the northern end of the Kurisches HafI, 58 miles by rail north-northwest of Tilsit (Map: Prussia, .J 1). It has an excellent har- bor protected by two lighthouses and a fnrt, and is of great importance in tlic Baltic lumber trade. The logs, sawed in the local mills, arc brought down from the forests of Russia by the Konig- Wilhelm Canal and by the Xiemen. here known as the Jlemel. ilemel is the seat of a con- siderable transit trade in agricultural products imported from Lithuania, as well as in coal, petroleum, herrings, chemicals, etc. The local manufactures consist of machinery, chemicals, etc. The educational institutions include a gym- nasium, a seminary for teachers, and a school of navigation. Memel was founded in 1252 by the Teutonic Order. It joined the Hanseatie League in 1254 and soon rose to a position of considerable commercial importance. It was held by the Swedes for some time during the seventeenth century, and was the residence of Frederick Wil- liam III., after the battle of .lena in 1807. Here also, in 1807, a treaty of peace was concluded between England and Prussia. Population, in 1890, 19,282; in 1900, 20,174, chiefly Protestants. MEMLING, mem'ling. H.NS (c.1430-94). An eminent jiainter of the early Flemish school, which may be said to have attained in his works the highest delicacy of artistic development. He was born at iUimlingen, near AsclialVcnburg, Bavaria, and appears permanently established at Bruges in 1478, but was probably active there a few years earlier. He was a pupil of Rogier van der Weyden at Brussels, but his work bears little resemblance to that master, "whom ho surpasses. His style is more akin to that of .Jau van Eyck. Mcmling's works, of which a large number sur- vive, may be best studied at Bruges. In the Hos- pital of Saint John are the following: "The Epiphany" (1479), representing the adoration of the Magi, and the "Presentation in the Tem- ple," the best example of the master's early manner; a triptych called the "ilarriage of Saint Catharine:" the portrait of "Catharine Morecl" (14S0); a diptych (1487) with the Madonna, and on the other wing the donor, Martin van Xieuwenhoven, the best of Mcmling's portraits; and the "Shrine of Saint Ursula" (1489), a reliquary in the shape of a Gothic chapel. Its fourteen scenes are the master's finest achieve- ment, being remarkable for the freedom and grace with which he treated groups and figures of small proportions. A triptych (1484) with "Saint Christopher and the Infant Christ" in the centre, in the JIuseum at Bruges, also ranks high among his works. The Museum at Brussels contains a fine "Crucifixion;" and that of Ant- werp possesses "Christ as King of Heaven," a large triptych, purchased in 1896 for 240.000 francs. Other authentic pictures of Memling are: A triptych, containing more than two hun- dred figures, the centre occupied by the Cruci- fixion (1491), in the Cathedral at'Liibeck; the "Seven Joys of the Virgin," in the Pinakothek, ilunich : the "Seven Sorrows of the 'irgin," in the Gallei-y of Turin : the "iladonnas," in the Ullizi. Florence, the Louvre, the Berlin Museum, and the Xational Gallery, London : a large altar- piece with the "Last Judgment" (1467), in the Church of .Saint Mary at Danzig. Examples of his portraits are in the galleries of Brussels, Ant- werp. Frankfort, and Florence. Consult: Michiels. Memliiiy, sa vie et ses ou- vragcs (Verviers, 1883) ; Wauters, Sept etudes pour scrrir a Vhistoire de Hans Memlinc (Brus- sels, 1894): Kaemmerer, Memling (Bielefeld, 1899) : and Weale, Hans ilcmlinn (London, 1901) : also Bock. Memling-Studien (Diisseldorf. 1900). and Gaederiz. Der Allarschrcin ron H. Mcmlinii iiii Dum zu Liiheck (Leipzig, 1901). MEMMINGEN, mem'mlng-cn. An ancient town of the Kingdom of Bavaria. Germany, situ- ated near the right bank of the I Her. 33 miles by rail south-southeast of Ulm (ilap: Bavaria. D 5). It is still partly surrounded with walls, and its principal church has fine late Gothic choir- stalls dating from the fifteenth century. The Roman Catholic churcli with its fine altar-pieces, the fift<'enth-ccntury Renaissance Rathaus, and the Fuggcrhau. in whi<h Wallenstein received his dismissal from the command of the army in 1030, are also noteworthy. The educational institutions of the town include a realschule. a seminary for teachers, a theatre, and a library. There is an important collection of archives. Meramingen manufactures woolens and linen, cordage, vari- ous kinds of machinery, leather, soap, etc., and trades in agricultural products, wool, and live