The lazaretti need to be kept clean and tidy and not left with dead bodies locked inside. Rubbish and filth must be regularly and immediately removed and the rooms perfumed daily or ‘even more than once a day’. He [Hieronimo Donzellini] then discussed in detail the types of perfumes and how to dispense them in the lazaretti. Finally, like [Giovanni Filippo] Ingrassia, he discussed the architectural organization and construction of the lazaretti, the need for different rooms to treat different types of patients.

My urine jumped a great distance, spattering against the cobblestones, and when it struck the bay window that jutted from the first floor it rebounded and warmly wet the tops of my feet and my goosepimpled thighs.

Pull on the handrest to ease the bassoon into a more comfortable position.

I'd always considered astrology bullshit, right up there with the legal, real estate and banking businesses in terms of thieving ass-sucking charlatanry, but it's clear I've been doing it a misservice.