use strict;
use Data::Dumper;

my %bits;
$bits{'zero'}='start element';
&loader('something',\%bits);
print 'Result:'.Dumper(\%bits);

sub loader{
 # loads values into hash..
 my $tail = shift;
 my %h_ref = %{+shift};
 
 print 'In sub:'.Dumper(\%h_ref);

 $h_ref{'one'}='thing_'.$tail;
 $h_ref{'two'}='thong_'.$tail;
 print 'After add:'.Dumper(\%h_ref);
}

##</code><code>##

In sub:$VAR1 = {
          'zero' => 'start element'
        };
After add:$VAR1 = {
          'zero' => 'start element',
          'two' => 'thong_something',
          'one' => 'thing_something'
        };
Result:$VAR1 = {
          'zero' => 'start element'
        };

##</code><code>##

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