Abstract: The invention is concerned with a process for sealing a gas at elevated pressures within a gas discharge lamp without the necessity for freezing down the gas within the lamp. The process comprises providing a hollow vitreous body having an orifice leading from an exterior to an interior thereof and a first vitreous tube extending from said orifice externally of the body. The first tube and the interior of the body are pressurized with gas. A vitreous bead of a first type of glass is positioned in the first tube, the bead having a softening temperature below a softening temperature of the first tube and having a thermal expansion differential within about 1000 parts per million of the first tube. Without freezing down the gas the first tube and the bead are heated to a first temperature sufficient to soften the bead but not soften the first tube to wet and seal the first tube with the softened bead. Finally, the sealed tube is cooled.