From 1853 he served as a geologist during the construction of rail tunnels through the Jura Mountains.[1] In 1859 he was sent by Eduard Desor to Cette on the Gulf of Lyon in order to investigate the mode of life of marine organisms,[3] and in 1861, with Carl Vogt and others, he embarked on a scientific expedition that took him to the North Cape, Jan Mayen and Iceland.[4]