Account of the examination of the contents of an ancient hermetically-sealed glass vessel

Abstract

The Council of the Society asked Dr Wilson to examine the contents of a glass vessel that was gifted to the Society after it was removed from Pompeii. The article begins with a description of the vessel and its construction. He proposes that the glass was fused closed after the liquid contents were introduced and suggests that this vessel may have formed the stem of a larger vessel. The article goes on to describe the liquid itself and the various chemical tests that were preformed to discover its composition. Dr Wilson then covers the possible uses of the vessel and what function the contents might serve, as well as the effects that time might have had on the liquid. In his conclusion he proposes that sealing common water into an enclosed vessel may have been a way to demonstrate the maker's glass working skills.