In 1885 Andrew Dixon White, first president of Cornell University, authorized purchase of 570 glass marine invertebrates, "some of which are on exhibit at Corson Mudd Hall and the Herbert F. Johnson Museum, making Cornell one of the few universities in the world where students and the public can view these wondrous creations." However and like so many of their counterpart collections, they were neglected after a time and, in this case, remained forgotten under dust and grit until the latter half of the 20th century. Currently Cornell has restored approximately 170 of the models thus far and "restoration work will continue as funding allows."