Between 1849 and 1852 very few meetings of the Governors were held, owing to the absence of the Governors from Montreal. The affairs of the College were largely in the hands of the Vice-Principal and his assistants. Conditions gradually became graver. The Lecturers in French and Mathematics were dismissed because no money to pay them was in prospect. By 1851 the buildings, which had not been completed and were uncomfortable at best, had fallen into a dilapidated state. Rain and snow fell freely through the cracks in the roof, and leaked to the rooms below. Windows and doors, which in the course of time had been shattered, were still unrepaired. There was not enough fuel to heat the broken and damaged structures, for an allowance of "ten cords of maple wood for the winter" was not sufficient to bring warmth. The College grounds were uncared for. Students who dwelt in the city tramped through snowdrifts to the cold College classrooms. Because of the discomfort, the lack of adequate accommodation, and the inconvenient distance from the Hospital and the city, the Medical classes, which had been held in the Centre building since 1845, were removed in 1851, as already recorded, to the building on Coté Street, built by three members of the Medical Staff, Drs. Campbell, MacCulloch, and Sutherland, and leased to the Faculty. A year later the City began excavations for the reservoir in rear of the College grounds. The blasting in connection with this work did not add to the peace or the safety of student life in McGill, and later serious breaks in the buildings were caused by heavy stones falling on the roof. For these various reasons it was ordered by the College authorities that all occupants except the Vice-Principal should withdraw from the College buildings. The chief excuse given was economy, but the real reasons were not then disclosed to the public. The Arts classes were afterwards carried on in part of the building used for the High School. The McGill buildings were abandoned, except by the Vice-Principal, and it was not until 1860 that they were reoccupied by the Faculty of Arts. Several changes now took place in the administration of the College. In 1851 Principal Meredith resigned. His resignation was followed the next year by that of the Rev. John Abbott, who had been Secretary and Bursar and Registrar for several years. The Hon. Judge Charles Dewey Day was now President of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning, and as such he assumed, in conjunction with Vice-Principal Leach, direction of the College management.