"It is somewhat singular that this school so ably conducted and
so useful, has drawn to itself so little of the munificence of
benefactors. Perhaps the fact of its self-supporting and independent
character has led to this." It was decided, however, to undertake the
construction of a Medical Building on the College property. In 1872 the
front block of what was afterwards known as "the old Medical Building"
was erected for the Medical School, and the Medical Faculty returned,
this time permanently, to the College grounds. Funds for its endowment
were afterwards given by its friends. The year 1872 is a notable one in
the history of the McGill Medical School, for another reason than the
erection of its first McGill building,--it was also the year of the
graduation of William Osler, destined later to exercise so great an
influence on medical education in Canada, America, and Europe. The
department of Applied Science which had been connected with the Faculty
of Arts since 1856 was expanded into a separate Faculty in 1878. It had
been temporarily suspended because of a lack of funds in 1870; it was
now re-created, greater than before. But it had yet no building and no
adequate equipment. These, however, were to come in due course.

Speaking later of the decade between 1870 and 1880, Principal Dawson
referred to it as the middle period in his connection with McGill, "a
period of routine and uniformity, succeeding the period of preparation
and active exertion and preceding the period of culmination. During
these ten years," he said, "the University outlived for the most part
its earlier trials and struggles. Its revenues expanded considerably....
The number of its students greatly increased, as did also its staff of
instructors. Gold medals and scholarships were founded. The beginning
of a museum was formed, and the library, although still small, was
growing rapidly, by donations and occasional purchases. A suitable
building on the College grounds was provided for the Medical Faculty. A
new Faculty of Applied Science was active and prosperous, though as yet
without any building of its own. The statutes and regulations had become
fixed and settled, and the whole machinery of the institution was moving
smoothly and regularly. It had, in short, reached a position in which it
could challenge comparison with its sister institutions and rivals and
which to many seemed adequate to all the requirements of the time.
Still, there were many