Dundee School Board, Report on the Feeding of School Children, 1913, p. 11. Footnote 574: _Ibid._, p. 15. Footnote 575: _Ibid._, pp. 13-14. Footnote 576: In the special schools for defective children at Paisley a two-course dinner is provided at a charge of 8d. a week. Footnote 577: Report of Chief Inspector for the Northern Division for 1911, p. 24. Turning now to the rural districts, we may mention an early experiment somewhat similar to that at Rousdon, to which we have already referred. In 1878 the minister of the small country parish of Farnell came to the conclusion that the attendance at school would be more regular, and the children would derive more profit from the education given if a hot midday meal were provided. Accordingly a soup kitchen was instituted at the school, the plant being provided by voluntary contributions. A charge was made of a halfpenny per meal or 1d. per family, where there were more than two children. Practically all the children availed themselves of the provision. The effects were soon visible, not only in improved attendance--the grant earned rose from L89 in 1878 to L99 in 1883--but in greater immunity from epidemics and illness than in neighbouring schools, and in the greater buoyancy of spirits of the children.[578] Footnote 578: "Can a sufficient mid-day meal be given to poor school children ... for ... less than one penny?" by Sir Henry Peek, 1883, p. 13. In this matter of providing a midday meal for the children attending rural schools, Scotland would appear to be, on the whole, in advance of England, though the extent of the provision made varies considerably in different districts. Thus, in the Border Counties, very few schools make any arrangements,[579] while in Fifeshire, where the Inspector "has consistently pressed upon managers" the necessity for providing dinners, the attitude of most of the rural Boards is one of "stolid apathy."[580] In Aberdeenshire, on the other hand, a cup of cocoa or a plate of soup is provided in most of the country schools,[581] and in the county of Inverness almost all the schools provide some sort of hot liquid.[582] In Kincardineshire it was reported in 1906 that the soup kitchen was a "universal institution."[583] The meals may be paid for by the children, these payments being supplemented by voluntary contributions in money or in kind. Footnote 579: Report of Chief Inspector for the Southern Division for 1911, p. 27. Footnote 580: _Ibid._, pp. 27-8. Footnote 581: First Report on Medical Inspection of School Children in Scotland, by Dr. Leslie Mackenzie, 1913, p. 51. Footnote 582: "The Diet of Country Elementary School Children," by Dr. Gordon A. Lang, in _Rearing an Imperial Race_, edited by C. E. Hecht, 1913, p. 116. Footnote 583: Report of Chief Inspector for Northern Division for 1906.