Experimental studies on diagnosis of death from drowning by means of detection of vegetative planktons (diatoms) II. Detection of diatoms from putrefied and cremated bones of drowned bodies

A series of experiments have been conducted with ten adult rabbits, drowning them to death in a ditch those water contains diatoms in abundance. The bones (selected ones are the femur, humerus, riHand vertebra) of these drowned rabbits have been buried underground, wrapped tightly in cellophane bags and left there for three years, and the detection of diatoms has been conducted with these bones either as they are or after cremating them in the electric'oven at 300°C, 500°C, 800°C or 1,000°C, for 20 minutes. As the results it has been clarified that diatoms can be detected in a considerable number in the bones of four limbs, and of these detectable diatoms some of them can be found even after cremation at 1,000°C for 20 minutes. This clearly proves diatoms are detectable from the bones even after a long period of time·after burial and even after cremation at high temperatures.