George Stewardson Brady (1832–1921) and his collections at the Hancock Museum, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

A synopsis of the life and work of G. S. Brady is given. The curation and computer-cataloguing of the Brady slide collections is described and the subsequent benefits to researchers outlined. Much work remains to be carried out on the collection – an attempt to demonstrate the type of research needed focuses on the species of Ostracoda described by Brady in two of his early papers.

ing to act as a consultant physician in Sunderland. Brady held the Chair of Natural History until his retirement in 1906, and despite considerable demands imposed by his academic, medical and social duties, continued his research on the Crustacea, which now involved the examination of specimens from throughout the world. His contributions to science were recognised by the many honours which were conferred upon him. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, a corresponding member of the Zoological Society and of foreign societies. His name was used by fellow crustacean workers to erect new genera and species.
It is interesting to note that in spite of his involvement with international matters, Brady's influence upon the local scene was considerable. His friendship with naturalists in northern England was particularly fruitful, and there can be little doubt that his presence in the region inspired many to pursue the natural sciences. His involvement with the Tyneside Naturalists' Field Club has already been referred to, but Brady was also an active member of the Natural History Society of Northumberland, Durham and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, serving as president in 1875, 1892, 1893 and 1906. A close friend and collaborator was A. M. Norman, a local clergyman, described by E. Ray Lankester as "the greatest naturalist-dredger of his day" (Mills, 1980). Norman's tireless field-collectingsome 40 major trips in 38 yearsresulted in the formation of extensive collections and an encyclopaedic knowledge of European marine invertebrates. The team of Brady & Norman published two important works. "A Monograph of the marine and freshwater Ostracoda of the North Atlantic and of North Western Europe" was published in two parts in 1889 and 1896 in the transactions of the Royal Dublin Society, and their "Catalogue of the Crustacea of Northumberland and Durham" appeared in the transactions of the Natural History Society of Northumberland, Durham and Newcastleupon-Tyne in 1909.
On his retirement in 1906, Brady moved to Parkhurst, Endcliffe, Sheffield, having been made Hmorary Professor of Natural History in the renamed Armstrong College of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He was still actively carrying out research, and during this time he described collections from several expeditions including the German South Polar expedition and thi: Australian Antarctic expedition. Publications on the latter (Brady, 1918a(Brady, , 1918b were to be his final contributions to science, and according to Meek (1923), the work was carried out with some reluctance. Brady felt he was losing touch with the rapid developments of his subject and understandably could no longer cope with long hours at the microscope. Brady died on 25 December 1921.
The extent of G. S. Brady's contribution to marine biology and micropalaeontology can be appreciated by scanning the list of publications given in his obituary by his successor at Armstrong College, Alexander Meek (1923). These publications, 118 in total, along with his extensive collections, serve as testimony to his endeavours. Meek summarises his career as follows: "G. S. Brady will ever be remembered as a pioneer in a path of natural history not used by many investigators. His monographs and papers bear testimony to the arduous work he performed, and they will be consulted for guidance by all those who seek to traverse the same road. They amount together to a very complete account of freshwater and marine Entomostraca from many different parts of the globe. Brady used to remark on the relative sameness of the plankton, freshwater and marine, from widely remote regions. His work paved the way, with that of G. 0. Sars and others, for a better understanding of the wide distribution of species and the factors that promote it".

THE BRADY COLLECTIONS
Brady's own field collecting in N.E. England, his excursions to Scotland and Ireland (frequently in the company of David Robertson), and the receipt of specimens from numerous scientific expeditions resulted in the formation of large collections of considerable taxonomic significance. These were donated to the Hancock Museum in 1917 and 1920.
The principal collection of 3471 microscope slides is composed of the following groups: Ostracoda 2470
The ostracod and copepod collections represent a considerable resource, and a large number of specimens have some form of type status. Examination of current labels would indicate that 3 18 ostracod slides and 48 copepod slides bear the word "type", and many more are marked "nov. sp." or "nsp.". It is clear that considerable research will be necessary to determine their exact status. Brady's manuscript notebook of his slide collection (see P1.2), also held at the Hancock Museum, is an invaluable reference source containing lists of species to be found on the faunal slides in the collection, which unlike the rest of the slides bear only locality data and not species names. The significance of Brady's spirit-preserved collection is less easily assessed. It comprises some 1000 glass tubes, each labelled in Brady's hand. Like its counterpart in the Norman collection at the British Museum (Natural History), it probably represents, at least in part, a duplication of the "dry" slide collection, and as such it is deserving of much greater attention than it has hitherto received by those seeking type material. Again a number of groups are present, but it is particularly rich in copepods; as with the slide collection, considerable further research is indicated.
In 1982 the Hancock Museum acquired a collection of 1275 bound reprints relating mainly to microcrustacea, formerly in Brady's possession, from the library of the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The "Brady Library" is another valuable source of information for research workers which complements the collections.
In addition to these major items, the Hancock Museum also houses the Brady collection of marine and freshwater algae, donated in 1866, which comprises some 600 specimens.
In 1981 a re-assessment of the Brady collections was made, following which work began on the curation and documentation of the slide collections. An attempt was made to trace all outstanding loans and to recall all slides in order to give each one a unique identification nuvber, to record the information associated with each slide and to prepare an inventory of the collection on the Newcastle University computer. The large number of specimens which have now been returned to the museum includes many which had previously been presumed lost. The "rediscovery" of type specimens in this way has invalidated the establishment of neotypes by at least one author (see Athersuch, 1982), and research is now being undertaken to determine the status and condition of type specimens of all the ostracod species (more than 600 in all) described as new by Brady. Cataloguing of the collection was carried out as part of a large scale documentation exercise within the museum, described in detail by Davis & Hebron (1982). The transfer of data from slides to computer, plus basic curatorial work on the slides themselves, took 12 months in all and was completed by October 1982. It is important to remember that the file is basically a transcription of what is written on the slides or in Brady's notebook; as such it includes manuscript names which were never published as well as spelling mistakes (both original ones by Brady and subsequent ones by the transcriber -Brady's handwriting is not always easy to decipher), and as yet takes no account of the actual specimens contained in the slides. Despite these deficiencies, the file may now be considered a valuable research tool, in addition to its obvious functions as a secure data-storage system and curatorial aid. The data base management system used is known as SPIRES, which is a sophisticated texthandling package based on a hierarchical system of data structuring, with extensive facilities for constructing indexes, developing formats for data presentation and manipulating and transforming data. The system is interactive, that is all data is immediately accessible and can be interrogated in a number of ways from a terminal. For example, the system will respond quickly to a single search (How many specimens has D. Horne on loan?) and list the slides concerned at the prompt "Type" (see Fig. 1). A similar search could be carried out to locate a particular genus or species within the slide collection, to determine how many slides come from a named locality, or to find how many slides contain material from a known collecting expedition. In addition to this, compound searches can be made of the file, asking for combinations of information. For example, "HOW many specimens of Poturnocypris fufvu from Loch Ascog collected by the collector Scott occur in the slide collection?" (see Fig. 2). Most searches of this nature are carried out at a terminal, but if hard copy output is required (to forward to a researcher or for curatorial purposes, say) then this can be obtained in a variety of forms-as default print-out, in specially devised formats, or as attractive listings in tabular form (see Figs. 3a & 3b). The system is flexible enough to take additional data as it is discovered in the light of future research, and existing information can be amended as necessary.
The Brady Library has also been fully computercatalogued and attractive listings (author indexes or subject indexes for example) can be obtained (see Fig. 4). The main outstanding task is the curation and documentation of the spirit collection. The procedure for cataloguing will undoubtedly remain the same and the endproduct should make the collection more accessible and increase its potential as a research source. Practical work on the collections is a pre-requisite to cataloguing, however, and a number of difficult curatorial decisions have to be made regarding future storage and maintenance.

Type-specimens of ostracod species described by Brady
As we have already made clear, the computer catalogue of Brady's ostracod collection is based on the information written on the slides or in Brady's notebook, and makes no reference to the number or condition of the specimens on the slides. Further research is needed, particularly to determine whether or not valid typespecimens of the 600 or so new species described by Brady are present in the collection. To demonstrate the kind of work remaining to be done, we have utilised the computer file, in conjunction with the slide collection and Brady's notebook, to determine the condition and status of the type specimens of the species which Brady described as new in the third and fourth publications in his series: "Contributions to the study of the Entomostraca". For each species we have sought to provide the following information: a brief synonymy comprising the

C O N T R I B b T I O N S TL) T H C S T U D Y O F T H E ENTOMOSTRACA. h O . V I O N T H E O I S T R I D U T I Q N OF T H E O R I T I S H OSTRACODA. P P 48-70 P L A T E S 2
reference to Brady's original description and illustrations plus (where possible) a recent reference giving a modern name for the species, details of the type locality and details of the type specimens. Of the large numbers of specimens which have recently been retuined to the Hancock Museum, many had been placed on new slides bearing the words "syntype" or "holotype", and it is usually possible to identify the original slide from which such specimens were taken. In some instances, the removal of type specimens has left an empty slide in the collection, to the confusion of other workers (see Athersuch, 1982) who naturally assumed the types to be lost until they re-appeared on a new slide. In the following section, our reference to the return of a "new slide" indicates that the material in question was not on its original slide when received by the museum.  Athersuch, 1982).

Cythere favoides 1868c
Type locality. Tenedos. Type specimens. Slide no. 1.16.2 1 contains syntypes, nineteen carapaces and one right valve. Two additional new slides, recently returned to the museum and labelled syntypes, are now numbered 1.16.21A (one carapace and one left valve) and 1.16.21B (3 carapaces); these specimens were presumably removed from 1.16.2 1.

1869
Type locality. Besika Bay (as for C. affinis). Type specimens. Slide no. 1.49.35 contains a single syntypic carapace; a second carapace which was presumably removed from the above slide has been recently returned on a new slide labelled "Cytherideis teres syntype, Besika Bay" and is now numbered 1.49.35A.