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Of these individuals there were three remarkable classes; the

first was that of the monatti: this appellation, of doubtful

origin, was applied to those men who were devoted to the most

painful and dangerous employment in times of contagion; the

taking of the dead bodies from the houses, from the streets, and

from the lazaretto, carrying them to their graves, and burying

them; also, bringing the sick to the lazaretto, and burning and

purifying suspected or infected objects; the second class was

that of the apparitori, whose special function was to precede the

funeral cars, ringing a bell to warn passengers to retire; and

the third was that of the commissaries, who presided over both

the other classes, under the immediate orders of the Tribunal of

Health.