diff --git a/examples/utfgrid.html b/examples/utfgrid.html
index bf2da530e1..e92c206dfb 100644
--- a/examples/utfgrid.html
+++ b/examples/utfgrid.html
@@ -78,8 +78,10 @@
                 for (var idx in dataLookup) {
                     // idx can be used to retrieve layer from map.layers[idx]
                     data = dataLookup[idx];
-                    msg += "<strong>In 2005, " + data.NAME + " had a population of " +
-                        data.POP2005 + " people.</strong> ";
+                    if (data) {
+                        msg += "<strong>In 2005, " + data.NAME + " had a population of " +
+                            data.POP2005 + " people.</strong> ";
+                    }
                 }
             }
             document.getElementById("attrsdiv").innerHTML = msg;
diff --git a/lib/OpenLayers/Layer/UTFGrid.js b/lib/OpenLayers/Layer/UTFGrid.js
index 223dfe27a1..a25a4e8519 100644
--- a/lib/OpenLayers/Layer/UTFGrid.js
+++ b/lib/OpenLayers/Layer/UTFGrid.js
@@ -26,9 +26,11 @@
  * map.addLayer(world_utfgrid);
  * 
  * var control = new OpenLayers.Control.UTFGrid({
- *     'div': 'attrsdiv',
- *     'layers': [world_utfgrid],
- *     'handlerMode': 'move'
+ *     layers: [world_utfgrid],
+ *     handlerMode: 'move',
+ *     callback: function(dataLookup) {
+ *         // do something with returned data
+ *     }
  * })
  * (end code)
  *
@@ -45,13 +47,11 @@ OpenLayers.Layer.UTFGrid = OpenLayers.Class(OpenLayers.Layer.Grid, {
     isBaseLayer: false,
     
     /**
-     * APIProperty: sphericalMecator
-     * Whether the tile extents should be set to the defaults for 
-     *    spherical mercator. Useful for things like OpenStreetMap.
-     *    Default is true as most (all?) utfgrid implementations assume
-     *    sperical mercator.
+     * APIProperty: projection
+     * {<OpenLayers.Projection>}
+     * Source projection for the UTFGrids.  Default is "EPSG:900913".
      */
-    sphericalMercator: false,
+    projection: new OpenLayers.Projection("EPSG:900913"),
 
     /**
      * APIProperty: zoomOffset
@@ -106,24 +106,7 @@ OpenLayers.Layer.UTFGrid = OpenLayers.Class(OpenLayers.Layer.Grid, {
      * options - {Object} Hashtable of extra options to tag onto the layer
      */
     initialize: function(name, url, options) {
-        if (options && options.sphericalMercator || this.sphericalMercator) {
-            options = OpenLayers.Util.extend({
-                maxExtent: new OpenLayers.Bounds(
-                    -128 * 156543.03390625,
-                    -128 * 156543.03390625,
-                    128 * 156543.03390625,
-                    128 * 156543.03390625
-                ),
-                maxResolution: 156543.03390625,
-                numZoomLevels: 19,
-                units: "m",
-                projection: "EPSG:900913"
-            }, options);
-        }
-        url = url || this.url;
-        name = name || this.name;
-        var newArguments = [name, url, {}, options];
-        OpenLayers.Layer.Grid.prototype.initialize.apply(this, newArguments);
+        OpenLayers.Layer.Grid.prototype.initialize.apply(this, [name, url, {}, options]);
     },
     
     /**