CHULALONGKORN, PHRA PARAMINDR MAHA (1853--191o), king of Siam, eldest son of King Maha Mongkut, was born on Sept. 21, 1853, and succeeded his father on the throne on Oct. 1, 1868. The young king, who had according to custom been brought up in a Buddhist monastery, again retired into se clusion until he came of age in 1873, the government being en trusted to a regency. He then took the step, unprecedented for an eastern Asiatic potentate, of travelling outside his dominions, in India and the Dutch East Indies. The fruits of his appreciation of foreign institutions appeared in the reforms which he institut ed in Siam : the abolition of slavery, the simplification of court etiquette, the grant of liberty of conscience, the erection of schools and hospitals, and the further development of the army and navy. He established a standard coinage, postal and tele graph services, and arranged for the policing, sanitation, and lighting of Bangkok. Several of his sons, including the Crown Prince, were educated in England, and he himself visited Europe in 1897. He died at Bangkok on Oct. 23, 191o.