mh-interpret-number-as-range-flag

mh-interpret-number-as-range-flag is a variable defined in `mh-e.el'.
Its value is

t

Documentation:
*Non-nil means interpret a number as a range.

Since one of the most frequent ranges used is "last:N", MH-E
will interpret input such as "200" as "last:200" if this
option is on (which is the default). If you need to scan just the
message 200, then use the range "200:200".

You can customize this variable.

This variable was introduced, or its default value was changed, in version 7.4 of the MH-E package that is part of Emacs 22.1.