Why do I need to use .d to access data returned by jQuery AJAX?

I've put together some jQuery AJAX code using some tutorials I found on the internet. I'm new to jQuery and want to learn how to do things betters. I have a coworker who put together a beautiful web application using a lot of jQuery.

The thing I'm most confused about here is: why is it necessary to use the ".d" when referring to the response of my web method and what does it stand for?

    // ASP.net C# code
    [System.Web.Services.WebMethod]
    public static string hello()
    {
        return ("howdy");
    }

// Javascript code
function testMethod() {
    $.ajax({
        type: "POST",
        url: "ViewNamesAndNumbers.aspx/hello",
        data: "{}",
        contentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8",
        dataType: "json",
        success: function(msg) {
            alert(msg);   // This doesn't display the response.
            alert(msg.d); // This displays the response.
        } // end success:
    }) // end $.ajax