SeleniumTestCase.waitForElementToDisappear(String elementId) does not seem to work

In TAP5-1492 [1] "New features for SeleniumTestCase" one of the added methods to SeleniumTestCase is waitForElementToDisappear.
The commit [2] is by Howard on 31 Mar 2011.

The Prototype hide() documentation [3] briefly says "Hides and returns element".

I don't see it used in any of the tapestry projects and don't know if anyone has used it before.
Here is the code:

protected final void waitForElementToDisappear(String elementId)

{ String condition = String.format("window.$(\"%s\").hide()", elementId); waitForCondition(condition, PAGE_LOAD_TIMEOUT); }

IMO this method does not what it is supposed to do.

A Patch is provided just with one minor change

protected final void waitForElementToDisappear(String elementId)

{ String condition = String.format("window.$(\"%s\") == undefined", elementId); waitForCondition(condition, PAGE_LOAD_TIMEOUT); }

If there is a better approach please feel free to comment.

[1] TAP5-1492 https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/TAP5-1492

[2] Commit http://svn.apache.org/viewvc/tapestry/tapestry5/trunk/tapestry-test/src/main/java/org/apache/tapestry5/test/SeleniumTestCase.java?p2=%2Ftapestry%2Ftapestry5%2Ftrunk%2Ftapestry-test%2Fsrc%2Fmain%2Fjava%2Forg%2Fapache%2Ftapestry5%2Ftest%2FSeleniumTestCase.java&p1=%2Ftapestry%2Ftapestry5%2Ftrunk%2Ftapestry-test%2Fsrc%2Fmain%2Fjava%2Forg%2Fapache%2Ftapestry5%2Ftest%2FSeleniumTestCase.java&r1=1087494&r2=1087493&view=diff&pathrev=1087494

[3] Prototype hide() function http://prototypejs.org/api/element/hide