Dorsally, then, the prosoma is a vaulted structure with a smooth, horse-shoe-shaped anterior and lateral margin. Its posterior edge, the line where the meso-_plus_ the metasoma are hinged, is a re-entrant bay with three sides. The meso- and metasoma are in the King-crabs fused together and form a hexagon. Three sides of this hexagonal double region form the hinge, two form the lateral margins and slope inwards; these bear six fused and six-jointed spines which have a segmental value. The sixth or posterior side is indented, and its concavity forms the area to which the large post-anal, unsegmented tail or spine is hinged. The whole body is covered by a smooth chitinous sheath varying from sage-green to black in colour, and it is kept very clean, probably by some excretion which hinders various sessile animals attaching themselves to it as they do, for instance, on many Copepods. Burrowing animals like _Limulus_ are usually free from these messmates. King-crabs have a self-respecting, well-groomed appearance. On the rounded dorsal surface the chitinous covering is produced into a certain number of spines arranged in a median and two lateral rows. The anterior median spine overhangs the median eyes, and the anterior lateral spine on each side overshadows the large lateral eyes. [Illustration: FIG. 152.—Dorsal view of the King-crab, _Limulus polyphemus_, × ½. From Shipley and MacBride. 1, Carapace covering prosoma; 2, meso- and metasoma; 3, telson; 4, median eye; 5, lateral eye. ] The vaulted carapace is turned in on the under side, where there is a flat rim which widens anteriorly, and on the inner edge this rim borders a sunken area, into the concavity of which the numerous appendages project. Thus, although when viewed from above a _Limulus_ looks as though it had a solid body shaped something like half a pear, when viewed from below, especially if the appendages be removed, it will be found that the body is thin and hollowed, and almost leaf-like, as if most of the edible part of the half-pear had been scooped out. Within the hollow thus formed the appendages lie, and here they move about, seldom or never protruding beyond the edge of the carapace,—in fact, all except the pedipalps and ambulatory legs are too short to project beyond this limit. [Illustration: FIG. 153.—Ventral view of the King-crab, _Limulus polyphemus_, × ½. From Shipley and MacBride. 1, Carapace covering prosoma; 2, meso- and metasoma; 3, telson; 4, chelicera; 5, pedipalp; 6, 7, 8, 9, 3rd to 6th appendages, ambulatory limbs; 10, genital operculum turned forward to show the genital apertures; 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, appendages bearing gill-books; 16, anus; 17, mouth; 18, chilaria. ] The body of a King-crab can be analysed into twenty-one segments, but these do not all persist to the adult stage. They are grouped together in higher aggregates, or “tagmata” as Lankester calls them, and most of the segments bear paired appendages.