British Census Commissioners in 1841 had declared the population of Ireland to be 8,175,124. During the Famine years, 1845-50, Ireland's population declined in the millions due to deaths from starvation and disease and from mass emigration to North America and England.
Located at the rear of the abdominal cavity in the retroperitoneal space, the kidneys receive blood from the paired renal arteries, and drain into the paired renal veins. Each kidney excretes urine into a ureter which empties into the bladder. Renal physiology is the study of kidney function, while nephrology is the medical specialty concerned with kidney diseases. Diseases of the kidney are diverse, but individuals with kidney disease frequently display characteristic clinical features.
The glomerulus is an integral part of the nephron, the basic unit of the kidney. Each nephron is capable of forming urine by itself, and each kidney has many nephrons. The specific function of each glomerulus is to bring blood (and the waste products it carries) to the nephron.As the blood flows through the glomerulus, about one-fifth of the plasma passes through the glomerular membrane, collects in the malpighian capsule, and then flows through the renal tubules.ne of the capillary networks that are part of the renal corpuscles in the nephrons of the kidney. Each is surrounded by a Bowman's capsule, the site of renal (glomerular) filtration, which is the first step in the formation of urine. See: illustration. 2.