216 PROFESSOR OWEN ch. vn. 



to the organs, in the ascending order, so, in the 

 present course, comparative anatomy will be con- 

 sidered according to the class of animals, and 

 also in the ascending scale.' 



But in spite of his lectures and the continuous 

 researches with which he was occupied, Owen 

 contrived to find time for more public services by 

 sitting on various commissions from 1843 to 1849. 

 On April 17, 1843, he was asked by Sir James 

 Graham, M.P. (then Home Secretary), to serve 

 on the committee of the Commission formed to 

 inquire into the best means of supplying large 

 cities with efficient sewerage, under the presidency 

 of the Duke of Buccleuch. 



He continued to serve on this Commission of 

 Inquiry into the Health of Towns until 1846, 

 attending frequent meetings at various intervals. 

 The first meeting was held on June 1, 1843, 

 at Whitehall. The report, which was issued in 

 1845, * s signed by the following: Buccleuch, 

 Lincoln, Robert Slaney, George Graham, H. T. 

 De la Beche, D. B. Reid, Richard Owen, Robert 

 Stephenson, Lyon Playfair, and a few others, 

 showing the representative character of the Com- 

 missioners. Their work was by no means a 

 sinecure. Towards the end of the year we find 

 Owen making practical inquiries for the report. 

 The diary states that he ' went off one morn- 

 ing at nine o'clock to inquire into the state of 

 health of the men engaged in sewers, &c. He 



