diff --git a/base/dictionary.php b/base/dictionary.php
index 2e792c2..e4d206e 100644
--- a/base/dictionary.php
+++ b/base/dictionary.php
@@ -26,12 +26,20 @@ require_once PHALANX_ROOT . '/base/key_descender.php';
 // object, the contents are copied rather than referenced.
 class Dictionary extends KeyDescender
 {
+    // A Dictionary can either be created from a descendable type, or from
+    // a varargs of key-value pairs. If the varags constructor is used,
+    // the form is |new Dictionary(key1, val1, key2, val2).
     public function __construct($properties = array())
     {
-        if (self::IsDescendable($properties))
-            $this->root = $properties;
-        else
+        $args = func_get_args();
+        if (count($args) == 1 && self::IsDescendable($args[0])) {
+            $this->root = $args[0];
+        } else {
             $this->root = array();
+            for ($i = 0; $i < count($args); $i += 2) {
+                $this->root[$args[$i]] = $args[$i + 1];
+            }
+        }
     }

     // Sets a key-value pair.
@@ -43,7 +51,7 @@ class Dictionary extends KeyDescender
     // Returns the value for a given key.
     public function __get($key)
     {
-        return $this->getSilent($key);
+        return $this->GetSilent($key);
     }

     // Returns the number of items in the Dictionary.
diff --git a/testing/tests/base/dictionary_test.php b/testing/tests/base/dictionary_test.php
index 450f08e..636e6c1 100644
--- a/testing/tests/base/dictionary_test.php
+++ b/testing/tests/base/dictionary_test.php
@@ -26,6 +26,19 @@ class DictionaryTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
         $this->bag = new base\Dictionary();
     }

+    public function testAraryCtor()
+    {
+        $this->bag = new base\Dictionary(array('foo' => 'bar'));
+        $this->assertEquals('bar', $this->bag->foo);
+    }
+
+    public function testVarArgsCtor()
+    {
+        $this->bag = new base\Dictionary('foo', 'bar', 'baz', 'boo');
+        $this->assertEquals('bar', $this->bag->foo);
+        $this->assertEquals('boo', $this->bag->baz);
+    }
+
     public function testCount()
     {
         $this->assertEquals(0, $this->bag->Count());
@@ -53,7 +66,7 @@ class DictionaryTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
         $this->bag->bar = 'hij';

         $keys = array('foo', 'moo', 'bar');
-        $this->assertEquals($keys, $this->bag->allKeys());
+        $this->assertEquals($keys, $this->bag->AllKeys());
     }

     public function testAllValues()
@@ -63,7 +76,7 @@ class DictionaryTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
         $this->bag->bar = 'hij';

         $values = array('abc', 'def', 'hij');
-        $this->assertEquals($values, $this->bag->allValues());
+        $this->assertEquals($values, $this->bag->AllValues());
     }

     public function testToArray()
@@ -77,7 +90,7 @@ class DictionaryTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
             'moo' => 'def',
             'bar' => 'hij'
         );
-        $this->assertEquals($array, $this->bag->toArray());
+        $this->assertEquals($array, $this->bag->ToArray());
     }

     public function testHasKey()
@@ -90,7 +103,7 @@ class DictionaryTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
     public function testContains()
     {
         $this->bag->foo = 'moo';
-        $this->assertTrue($this->bag->contains('moo'));
-        $this->assertFalse($this->bag->contains('foo'));
+        $this->assertTrue($this->bag->Contains('moo'));
+        $this->assertFalse($this->bag->Contains('foo'));
     }
 }