(defun read-number (prompt &optional default hist)
"Read a numeric value in the minibuffer, prompting with PROMPT.
DEFAULT specifies a default value to return if the user just types RET.
-The value of DEFAULT is inserted into PROMPT.
-HIST specifies a history list variable. See `read-from-minibuffer'
-for details of the HIST argument.
+For historical reasons, the value of DEFAULT is always inserted into
+PROMPT, so it's recommended to use `format' instead of `format-prompt'
+to generate PROMPT. HIST specifies a history list variable. See
+`read-from-minibuffer' for details of the HIST argument.
This function is used by the `interactive' code letter \"n\"."
(let ((n nil)