But even where it is the rule to find cocoa or soup supplied, it is inadequate for the wants of many of the children, who require a more substantial and nourishing midday meal. Moreover, the provision appears as a rule to be confined to the winter months, a limitation patently absurd, since the _raison d'etre_ of the meals is not so much the poverty of the parents, a condition which may fluctuate according to the seasons, but the fact that the distances are, in many cases, too great to allow the children time to return home at midday--which condition is, of course, constant the whole year round. APPENDIX III THE PROVISION OF MEALS ABROAD We have not been able to make any original enquiry into the systems of school feeding existing in other countries. The following history of the "Cantines Scolaires" in Paris and brief notes as to the provision made in other foreign towns may, however, be useful for purposes of reference, and as showing how widespread has been the movement for the feeding of school children. The information as to foreign towns other than Paris is derived mainly from _Prize Essays on Feeding School Children_, 1890; _Report of London School Board on Underfed Children attending School_, 1899, Appendix ix., pp. 255-272; _Feeding of School Children in Continental and American Cities_ (Cd. 2926), 1906; _The Free Feeding of School Children_, a reprint of the reports by the Special Sanitary Commissioner of the _Lancet_, 2nd edition, 1907; while fuller and more recent information is to be found in _School Feeding, its Practice at Home and Abroad_, by Louise S. Bryant, 1913. (a) France (i) The Cantines Scolaires in Paris