public function message_count($msg_type = '', $reverse = false) {
		/*
		**	returns the number of messages in the queue
		**	if $msg_type is defined, it returns the number of messages of the class $msg_type
		*/
		
		if (empty($msg_type)) {
			return count($this->messages);
		} else {
			$msg_count = 0;
			
			foreach($this->messages as $msg) {
				if (strtolower($msg_type) == strtolower(get_class($msg)) && !$reverse) {
					$msg_count++;
				}

				if (strtolower($msg_type) != strtolower(get_class($msg)) && $reverse) {
					$msg_count++;
				}
			}
			
			return $msg_count;
		}
	}