Galileo's (other) Finger, Tooth, and Thumb Have Been Found

It’s been a long and undoubtedly strange journey for Galileo Galilei’s various body parts.  Some of you will recall that when his body was reinterred in 1737,  his middle finger was removed, along with several other body parts.  The finger and a vertebra have been stored (and displayed) in museums in Florence and Padua.

However, after passing through various collections for several hundred years, a tooth, a thumb, and another finger “went missing” in 1905.  It was just recently that they were identified:

“His lost fingers and tooth were bought by an unnamed collector at a recent auction, where they were being sold as unidentified artifacts contained in an 17th century wooden case…”

So will these appendages now be reunited with the rest of his corpse in the tomb in Florence?  Well, not exactly.  It seems they will “be exhibited from early 2010, when [Florence's History of Science] museum will re-open after current renovation work and will change its name to the Galileo museum.”

Those who find this entire business a bit bizarre are invited to also read or listen to NPR’s report about “The Twisted Journey of Napoleon’s Privates.”

Link.  Photo credit.