Vellum and Parchment - a note for Anton

[davidjackson]

When I looked up "membrane" in the OED after Helmut's comment in the Glossary post I found:

• A pliable sheet-like structure acting as a boundary, lining, or partition in an organism.
  

• A thin pliable sheet of material forming a barrier or lining.
  
  ‘the concrete should include a membrane to prevent rising damp’
  
  
• Biology A microscopic double layer of lipids and proteins forming the boundary of cells or organelles.
  

The second meaning of membrane is the one I associate with it, as used in the building trade etc. I'm not familiar with it as used in the context of writing material. Since it's quite a technical usage that Diane has given it (and I'm not disputing it for one moment as I originally used the term in my first definition, I can easily assume that parchment makers would refer to the membrane rather than saying, say, skin) I avoided the whole sticky dispute by using the more generic term "animal skin". Far easier to understand, means the same thing and avoids confusion.

Let's not get personal over this rather trivial matter.