2I6 
PROFESSOR OWEN 
CH. VII. 
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 i, 1843, 
at Whitehall. The report, which was issued in 
1845, is 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 
