Bowman's Capsule
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Bowman's capsule
[¦bō·mənz ′kap·səl] (anatomy)
A two-layered membranous sac surrounding the glomerulus and constituting the closed end of a nephron in the kidneys of all higher vertebrates.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Bowman’s Capsule
(named after the 19th-century English physician W. Bowman), a cuplike cul-de-sac of the uriniferous tubule of the kidneys of vertebrate animals and humans. Bowman’s capsule surrounds the glomerulus and together they form the malpighian body. The wall of Bowman’s capsule consists of an inner and outer layer, between which is a gap—the cavity of Bowman’s capsule—lined with a flat epithelium. The inner layer adheres to the glomerulus, and the outer layer becomes the beginning of the uriniferous tubule. In Bowman’s capsule, so-called primary urine is formed.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.