156 A Short History of Nursing 'future central body which should regulate and license the profession of nursing. It seemed a step backward to place as Sister Helen's successor in Bellevue a woman who was not a trained nurse. Miss Eliza Perkins was, however, astute and able as an administrator, and her unusual perception of character enabled her to increase the prestige of the school by her skill in selecting nurses for pioneer positions. The polii;ical complexion of Bellevue at that time called for a political expert in the training school, and this Miss Perkins was, while her assistant, always a trained nurse, directed the professional work. The Connecticut Training School was opened in the New Haven hospital in October, 1873. The Connecticut ^^^pital had, a year before, appointed Training a small committee of physicians to School investigate and report on the training of nurses, and their report advised the creation of a school under its own committee as an adjunct to the hospital. Men and women served together on the training school board. The school has thus a distinctly liberal prestige. In 1879 its committee published a text-book for the use of pupils m training, the first one of its kind in this country. It was called the New Haven Manual of Nursing, and was widely used.
