We have elsewhere (1) Glomerular and peritubular capillaries. Collating the available data on the nature of the fluid flow in capillaries (2), the relative viscosity of the blood for specified plasma protein concentration (3), and hematocrit (4, 5), the dimensions and number of the glomerular capillaries (6), and the blood flow through the glomerular capillary bed (7), it may be deduced that the glomerular capillaries contribute some 1.8 to 9 per cent of the total renal resistance; i.e., the drop in pressure along the glomerular capillaries is of the order of 1.4 to 7 mm. Hg, a value negligibly small as compared to the drop in pressure across the kidney as a whole (some 80 mm. Hg in normal subjects). This conclusion is supported by the fact that in different species the drop of pressure between the arteriolar and venous end tLAided by grants from the Knapp Foundation and the Commonwealth Fund. of the capillaries of the systemic circulation ranges from 3 to 20 mm. Hg (8).As compared with the glomerular capillaries, the peritubular capillaries probably afford an equal or larger crosssectional area through which the blood moves at a relatively low velocity, and with even a smaller decrement in pressure than in the glomeruli. In the absence of precise information, it may be assumed that the contribution of both the glomerular and peritubular capillary plexus to the total renal resistance is so small that it can be neglected in practical computations.The elementary mathematical treatment which follows, however, is such that part of the actual resistance of the glomerular capillaries is subsumed in the calculated value of RA and part in RE, while part of the actual resistance of the peritubular capillaries is subsumed in RE and part in RV. The net effect, therefore, is to introduce a slight, unavoidable but probably negligible error in each of these terms.For the calculation of the resistances represented by A, C and E, it is required that we know the flow across and decrement in pressure along each segment. The four pairs of values the members of which are to be compared are:(1) R = P mPvX 1328 = RA + R1E + Rv Q (2) RA = PM P Pg X 1328Pt -(4) RV = -Q X 1328 Q = afferent renal blood flow q = filtration rate both in cc./sec. and corrected to 1.73 sq. m. body surface area. Pm = mean aortic pressure Pg = mean glomerular pressure Pt = mean peritubular capillary pressure P,= renal venous pressure all pressures in mm. Hg R = total renal resistance RA = afferent resistance RE = true efferent resistance 1143