  The bosonic membrane in a partial gauge, where one space dimension is
eliminated, is formulated as a perturbation theory around an exact free
string-like solution. This perturbative regime corresponds to a situation where
one of the world-volume space-like dimensions is much greater than the other,
so that the membrane has the form of a narrow band or large hoop with string
excitations being transverse to the widest dimension. The perturbative
equations of motion are studied and solved to first order. Furthermore, it is
shown for the open or semi-open cases and to any order in perturbation theory,
that one may find canonical transformations that will transform the membrane
Hamiltonian into a free string-like Hamiltonian and a boundary Hamiltonian.
Thus the membrane dynamics in our perturbation scheme is essentially captured
by an interacting boundary theory defined on a two-dimensional world-sheet. A
possible implication of this to M-theory is discussed.
