function chkEmail(object, language)
	{
		emailStr = object.value;
		/* The following pattern is used to check if the entered e-mail address
		   fits the user@domain format.  It also is used to separate the username
		   from the domain. */
		var emailPat=/^(.+)@(.+)$/
		/* The following string represents the pattern for matching all special
		   characters.  We don't want to allow special characters in the address. 
		   These characters include ( ) < > @ , ; : \ " . [ ]    */
		var specialChars="\\(\\)<>@,;:\\\\\\\"\\.\\[\\]"
		/* The following string represents the range of characters allowed in a 
		   username or domainname.  It really states which chars aren't allowed. */
		var validChars="\[^\\s" + specialChars + "\]"
		/* The following pattern applies if the "user" is a quoted string (in
		   which case, there are no rules about which characters are allowed
		   and which aren't; anything goes).  E.g. "jiminy cricket"@disney.com
		   is a legal e-mail address. */
		var quotedUser="(\"[^\"]*\")"
		/* The following pattern applies for domains that are IP addresses,
		   rather than symbolic names.  E.g. joe@[123.124.233.4] is a legal
		   e-mail address. NOTE: The square brackets are required. */
		var ipDomainPat=/^\[(\d{1,3})\.(\d{1,3})\.(\d{1,3})\.(\d{1,3})\]$/
		/* The following string represents an atom (basically a series of
		   non-special characters.) */
		var atom=validChars + '+'
		/* The following string represents one word in the typical username.
		   For example, in john.doe@somewhere.com, john and doe are words.
		   Basically, a word is either an atom or quoted string. */
		var word="(" + atom + "|" + quotedUser + ")"
		// The following pattern describes the structure of the user
		var userPat=new RegExp("^" + word + "(\\." + word + ")*$")
		/* The following pattern describes the structure of a normal symbolic
		   domain, as opposed to ipDomainPat, shown above. */
		var domainPat=new RegExp("^" + atom + "(\\." + atom +")*$")
		
		
		/* Finally, let's start trying to figure out if the supplied address is
		   valid. */
		
		/* Begin with the coarse pattern to simply break up user@domain into
		   different pieces that are easy to analyze. */
		var matchArray=emailStr.match(emailPat)
		if (matchArray==null) {
		  /* Too many/few @'s or something; basically, this address doesn't
		     even fit the general mould of a valid e-mail address. */
			 if(language == "d")
			   alert("Fehler in der eMail-Adresse! Falsche Anzahl von @s und Punkten!");
			 if(language == "e")
			   alert("Email address seems incorrect (check @ and .'s)");
			return false;
		}
		var user=matchArray[1]
		var domain=matchArray[2]
		
		// See if "user" is valid 
		if (user.match(userPat)==null) {
		    // user is not valid
		    if(language == "d")
		    	alert("Fehler in der eMail-Adresse! Der Username ist inkorrekt!");
		    if(language == "e")
		    	alert("The username doesn't seem to be valid.");
		    return false;
		}
		
		/* if the e-mail address is at an IP address (as opposed to a symbolic
		   host name) make sure the IP address is valid. */
		var IPArray=domain.match(ipDomainPat)
		if (IPArray!=null) {
		    // this is an IP address
			  for (var i=1;i<=4;i++) {
			    if (IPArray[i]>255) {
				if(language == "d")
			        	alert("Fehler in der eMail-Adresse! Ziel IP Adresse ist ungültig!");
				if(language == "e")
		    	    		alert("Destination IP address is invalid!");
				return false;
			    }
		    }
		    return true
		}
	
		// Domain is symbolic name
		var domainArray=domain.match(domainPat)
		if (domainArray==null) {
		    if(language == "d")
		            alert("Fehler in der eMail-Adresse! Die Domain ist ungültig!");
		    if(language == "e")
		    	    alert("The domain name doesn't seem to be valid.");
			return false;
		}
		
		/* domain name seems valid, but now make sure that it ends in a
		   three-letter word (like com, edu, gov) or a two-letter word,
		   representing country (uk, nl), and that there's a hostname preceding 
		   the domain or country. */
		
		/* Now we need to break up the domain to get a count of how many atoms
		   it consists of. */
		var atomPat=new RegExp(atom,"g")
		var domArr=domain.match(atomPat)
		var len=domArr.length
		if (domArr[domArr.length-1].length<2 || domArr[domArr.length-1].length>4) {
		   // the address must end in a two letter or three letter word.
		   if(language == "d")
		           alert("Fehler in der eMail-Adresse! Die Adresse muss mit einer zwei- drei- oder vierbuchstabigen Domain enden!");
	       if(language == "e")
		           alert("The address must end in a three-letter domain, or two letter country.");
		   return false;
		}
		
		// Make sure there's a host name preceding the domain.
		if (len<2) {
		   if(language == "d")
		       alert("Fehler in der eMail-Adresse! Es fehlt ein Hostname (z.B. '.de' oder '.net')!");
		   if(language == "e")
		       alert("This address is missing a hostname (e.g. '.com' or '.net')!");
		   return false;
		}
		
		// If we've gotten this far, everything's valid!
		return true;	
	}