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Lucy's Bones, Sacred Stones, and Einstein's Brain by Harvey Rachlin 

Jumbo's Hide, Elvis's Ride, and the Tooth of Buddha by Harvey Rachlin

   

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These two books are filled with fascinating stories about historical objects and artifacts. Of course, history being the strange thing that it is...some of these stories pertain to mummies, since people have been preserving all types of unusual things as mementos (including themselves). 

The books contain some photos, but the key here is the background information on each of the preserved objects or beings. Rachlin is an excellent author and researcher; the other chapters (though not about mummies) are equally fascinating.  Highly recommended. 

In Lucy's Bones, a number of mummies are discussed in separate, well-researched chapters, including:

  • John Paul Jones, often referred to as the Father of the American Navy (complete with photos of his mummy), 
  • philosopher Jeremy Bentham, (he wanted to be a mummy, and he got his wish)
  • Stonewall Jackson's Horse (more of a taxidermist's project than a mummy, Little Sorrel is exhibited at the Virginia Military Institute), 
  • Einstein's brain, (approximately 200 pieces of the brain exist in various locations around the world, including Lawrence, Kansas, U C at Berkeley, and Japan, Australia, and Germany

Another chapter tackles the contents of King Tut's tomb. But the strangest mummy-related chapter is the one that deals with Napoleon's mummified member (allegedly removed the day after he died, though there is no proof that this happened) and now residing at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University (New York). 

   

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Jumbo's Hide is the recent sequel to Lucy, and it follows the same format. The mummies it describes are:

  • Galileo's middle finger ("This is the finger with which the illustrious hand covered the heavens and indicated their immense space. It pointed to new stars with the marvelous instrument, made of glass, and revealed them to the senses. And thus it was able to reach what Titans could never attain" Tommaso Perelli, 18th Century Italian astronomer. It was cut from Galileo's corpse in 1737 and is exhibited in Florence, Italy.
  • John Adams's pigtail (Not the president, but the last mutineer of the H.M.S. Bounty to survive on Pitcairn Island.)
  • Jumbo the Elephant (P. T. Barnum's famous elephant, which managed to earn some money after Jumbo's demise when he was stuffed and exhibited.) 
  • The hoof of Fire Horse Number Twelve (Exactly what it says: the horse was racing to a fire in 1890 in Washington, D.C. when the fire engine was hit by another; the horse's hoof was severed, yet it managed to keep its pace for a half mile to the fire. It is exhibited at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.
  • Able the Space Monkey (One of two rhesus monkeys first sent into space on May 28, 1959, Able was later preserved. He is now exhibited at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.)

 

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All material on this website is intended primarily for children, educators, and parents.  
© 1988-2008 James M. Deem 
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Latest Update: 31 July 2008

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