Complex sentence: In 1887, the laboratory, directed by Thomas Messinger Drown, was appointed by the newly formed Massachusetts State Board of Health to a landmark study of sanitary quality of the state's inland waters.
Split into simpler sentences: In 1887, the laboratory, directed by Thomas Messinger Drown. He was appointed by the newly formed Massachusetts State Board of Health to a landmark study of sanitary quality of the state's inland waters.