262 A Short History of Nursing District nursing has been well developed in Ireland and the wild, picturesque character of the country and the inimitable personalities of the cottagers give this branch of work a fascinating quality. Canada has the longest nursing history of any of the Dominions of Great Britain. The early pioneering of the Catholic Sisters dur- Canada ing the French period of occupation has been mentioned. Canada enjoys the distinction of having one of the earliest Nightingale schools on the North American continent. This is in con- The first training nection with the General and Marine school in hospital in St. Catherine's. It has, Canada indeed, often been called the first Amen- can school. It was begun in 1864 by Dr. Mack, whose spirit and personality were very fine and noble, and who was undoubtedly inspired by Miss Nightingale's work. However, the small school and hospital seem only to have taken on a fully de- veloped form by 1873, when Dr. Mack sent to England and secured three trained nurses (from Guy's hospital) and half a dozen probationers. This school has always enjoyed a distinct prestige, and has a character of its own. Of the large general hospitals under civil direc-
