unless (ref $cipher) {  # munge the class name if no object passed
      $cipher = $cipher=~/^Crypt::/ ? $cipher : "Crypt::$cipher";
      $cipher->can('encrypt') or eval "require $cipher; 1" or croak "Couldn't load $cipher: $@";
      # some crypt modules use the class Crypt::, and others don't
      $cipher =~ s/^Crypt::// unless $cipher->can('keysize');
    }