Bottle-bugs

These devices are magical constructs not dissimilar from homunculi: usually made of twine, wire, and clay, they resemble fat-bodied beetles with a clear abdomen made of glass.

They are designed for careful application of volatile materials, and can 'drink' and regurgitate their contents with incredible precision. Many alchemists with shaky hands employ them to avoid measurement mistakes.

There are, of course, dangerous applications for them. Bottle-bugs shaped like spiders of black glass are common carriers of terrible poisons for magical assassins, or else wasps of wire with stings that deliver polymorphing toxins or devil's tears.

Some alchemists fill cheap, fragile bottle-bugs with fulminating potions and other explosives and employ them as defense systems, little kamikaze lab assistants.