separators in data()

just out of curiosity:

  why is the default behavior in data() for reading in .csv files
to use sep=";" (semicolon rather than comma)?  is this a historical
artifact of some sort, or is there other logic to it?  It caught
me by surprise since I was expecting it to be sep="," as in
read.csv() ...

  cheers
    Ben Bolker

620B Bartram Hall                            bolker at zoo.ufl.edu
Zoology Department, University of Florida    http://www.zoo.ufl.edu/bolker
Box 118525                                   (ph)  352-392-5697
Gainesville, FL 32611-8525                   (fax) 352-392-3704