368 
THOMAS ANTISELL. 
of geologist with the Parke expedition in the railroad survey 
of southern California and Arizona, returning to Washington 
in 1856, where, on June 1, he was appointed first assistant ex¬ 
aminer in the Patent Office. His work in the office related 
chiefly to chemistry, and he was promoted to be principal 
examiner on May 3,1861. 
On September 30 of the same year he resigned to enter the 
army as brigade surgeon of volunteers, with the rank of major. 
He served first with Banks’ division and the Fifth army corps, 
then became successively medical director of the Department 
of the Shenandoah, Second corps, Army of Virginia, and 
Twelfth army corps; in October, 1862, was in Harewood hos¬ 
pital, Washington, D. C., and in 1863 president of a medical 
examining board, and post surgeon to August, 1865. He was 
brevetted lieutenant colonel, United States volunteers, March 
13, and honorably mustered out of service October 7, 1865. 
In the service he was noted for his reckless disregard of per¬ 
sonal danger for himself or his assistant surgeons when the 
wounded required attention in the rear of the line of battle, 
and probably saved the life of many a poor fellow by the 
prompt and skillful aid he rendered. 
In 1866 he was appointed chief chemist in the Department 
of Agriculture, where in 1869 the writer first met him. The 
Japanese government was then trying to secure the services 
of competent foreigners to teach them modern civilization, 
and among their enterprises included an effort to improve 
the northern islands which form a part of their empire. 
General Horace Capron, at that time Commissioner of Agri¬ 
culture, was engaged for this purpose, and among the assist¬ 
ants he selected to go with him was Dr. Antisell, as technol¬ 
ogist for the expedition. The party arrived in Japan in 
1871, and the ability of Dr. Antisell in chemical work was so 
marked that he was soon transferred to the service of the Im¬ 
perial government in Tokyo in connection with the making 
of inks for a new system of paper currency, dextrin for the 
post-office, and similar work. While in Japan he received 
a pressing invitation from General Stone, then in Egypt, to 
