and despite predicted
disaster he saw a great increase in her material welfare and her
standing in the academic world during the six years he was President.
Within four years the attendance practically doubled from 652 in 1862-63
to 1,255 in 1866-67. This was due to the great and somewhat
disproportionate growth of the two professional schools, which were now
well under way, and to the reaction following the falling off of
students during the Civil War. In 1864 a School of Mines was announced,
but it did not prove successful and was soon absorbed in a Department of
Mining Engineering which in turn failed to survive. In 1867-68 a Latin
and Scientific course was established, substituting modern languages for
Greek as cultural studies, an innovation which speedily proved popular
and widely imitated. A course in Pharmacy was first given in 1868,
though it did not become a Department for some years. The Library also
grew from 13,000 volumes in 1864 to 17,000 in 1869, including one gift
to the law library of 800 volumes. Other gifts increased the scientific
resources of the University.

This growth in students and in the scope of the curriculum made
additions to the buildings and equipment imperative. The Medical
Building was enlarged by a new section, erected at a cost of $20,000,
one-half of which was raised by the townspeople of Ann Arbor by general
taxation; while an addition to the Observatory and its general
renovation cost $6,000, an expense again defrayed by Ann Arbor and
Detroit citizens. A much needed addition to the Chemical Laboratory was
also made, and one of the dwelling houses on the Campus was made into a
Hospital.

The financial situation during most of this period, however, was
threatening. The great increase in the cost of living which followed the
Civil War was making existence difficult for the whole University. The
total income was but $60,000, while the average professor's salary was
only $1,500. Up to this time the State had contributed nothing to the
University for its support, aside from the loan made in 1838, though it
was glad enough to bask in the reputation which the great and growing
institution brought to the Commonwealth. The University, in fact, had
grown beyond its resources, and something had to be done. The Regents
accordingly took the University's case to the Legislature, which
granted, in 1867, a tax of one-twentieth of a mill on each dollar of the
taxable resources of the State, yield