Compatibility fix

Changed Hash notation in test code in order to be Ruby 1.8.7
compatible.
Bug fix

Fixed test and implementation code that was assuming that Hashes
were ordered.
Merge branch 'compatibly_consistent' into dev
Deprecation overhaul

Officially deprecated another old method that was made redundant by
the introduction of newer element models and made sure that places
that used/tested related methods worked for both the originals and
the replacements until such time as they are removed.
Spec fix.

Fixed a copy/paste error in a test so that it tests the correct thing and
adjusted implementation to pass the corrected test.