MEMORANDUM

Lat. To be remem• bered; be it remembered. A formal word with which the body of a record in the court of king's bench anciently commenced. Townsh. Pl. 486; 2 Tidd, Pr. 719. The whole clause is now, in practice, termed, from this initial word, the "memorandum," and its use is supposed to have originated from the circumstance that proceedings "by bill" (in which alone It has been employed) were formerly considered as the by-busine of the court. Gilb. Com. Pl. 47, 48..Also an informal note or instrument embodying something that the parties desire to fix in memory by the aid of writ.ten evidence, or that is to serve as the basis of a future formal contract or deed. This word is used in the l;ltatute of frauds as the designation of the written agreement, or note or evidence thereof, which must exist in order to bind the parties in the cases provided. The memorandum must be such as to disclose the parties, the nature and substance of the contract, the consideration and promise, and be signed by the:Party to be bound or his authorized agent. See 2 Kent, Comm. 510. -Memorandum article■•· In the law of marine insurance, this phrase designates the articles of merchandise which are usually men-. tioned in the memorandum clause, (q. 11.,) and for which the underwriter'e liability is thereby limited. See Waln v. Thompson, 9 Serg. & R. (Pa.) 120, 11 Am. Dec. 675.-Memoran• dum check. See CnEcK.-Memorandtu11 clause. In a policy of marine insurance the memorandum clause is a clause inserted to prevent the underwriters from being liable for injury to goods of a peculiarly perishable nature, and for minor damages. It begins as follows: "N. B. Corn, fish, salt, fruit, flour, and seed are warranted free from average, unle general, or the ship be stranded,"-meaning that the underwriters are not to be liable for damage to these articles caused by sea· water or the like..Maude & P. Shipp. 371; Sweet.-Memorandnm. in error. A document alleging error in fact, accompanied by an affidavit of such matter of fact.-Memorandum of alteration. Formerly, in England, where a patent was granted for two inven• tions, one of which was not new or not useful, the whole patent was bad, and the same role applied when a material part of a patent for a single invention had either of those defects. To remedy this the statute 5 & 6 Wm. IV. c, 83, empowers a patentee (with the fiat of the attorney general) to enter a disclaimer (q. 11.) or a memorandum of an alteration in the title or specification of the patent, Mt being of such a nature as to extend the exclusive right granted by the patent, and thereupon the memorandum is deemed to be part. of the letters patent or the specification. Sweet.-Memorandum of a ociation. A document to be subscrib- ALE. [s. 777]