else {
        for (values %$t_hash) { $total += $_ }
        # (use the statement modifier for if preferred)
    }

##</code><code>##

sub sum_hash {
  my $href = shift;
  my $total = 0;
  for ( @_ ? @{$href}{@_} : values %$href ) {
    $total += $_;
  }
  return $total;
}