   $skip: 'skip'
   $limit: 'limit'
 
-extractCursorMethods = (inputQuery) ->
+extractCursorMethods = (query) ->
   out = []
-  for key of inputQuery
+  for key of query
     if cursorOperators[key]
-      out.push [cursorOperators[key], inputQuery[key]]
-      delete inputQuery[key]
+      out.push [cursorOperators[key], query[key]]
+      delete query[key]
   return out
 
 normalizeQuery = (inputQuery) ->

  query: (cName, inputQuery, callback) ->
    return callback 'db already closed' if @closed

    cursorMethods = extractCursorMethods inputQuery

    query = normalizeQuery inputQuery

    mongo.collection(cName).find query, (err, cursor) ->
      return callback err if err

  else
    query = {$query: {}}
    for key, value of inputQuery
      if metaOperators[key] || cursorOperators[key]
        query[key] = value
      else
        query.$query[key] = value
