Let's reformat the code to be a little more readable:

$main::objbase->[155] =
  sub {
    my $i = item->new('FILLABLE'=> 1,
                          'NAME'=>'an empty vial',
                           'VAL'=>10,
                           'VOL'=>.5,
                          'MASS'=>.5,
                          'DESC'=>'A simple glass vial, about three in
+ches long. There is a bit of cork stuffed into the opening to help pr
+otect any liquids that may be placed inside.'
                      );
    return($i);
  };
[download]

Looked at this way, it's a little easier to see what's going on. First, off, there's this scalar in package main named objbase, which we'll treat as an array reference. Item number 155 of that array we're going to set to an anonymous subroutine. This subroutine makes a new "item" object, passing it a bunch of key=>value pairs. It'll then return the objevt that it just created.

Thus, the way you'd use this would probably be:

$vial = $main::objbase->[155]();
[download]

perl -pe '"I lo*`+$^X$\"$]!$/"=~m%(.*)%s;$_=$1;y^+*`^ ve^#$&V"+@( NO CARRIER'