Reflections on Phlogiston

Lavoisier, in his Reflections on Phlogiston published in 1786, points out that in Baum s view of the phlogiston theory, the combination of free fire and the earthy element can be combined in an infinity of proportions, and that there exists in consequence an infinity of intermediate states between the free fire and the phlogiston properly speaking. Lavoisier clearly recognizes the error of this view of continuous chemical combination, but he does not elaborate or generalize on this point. In his Traiti of 1789, he focuses chiefly on the empirically based distinction of the neutral salts, whose composition is expressed in terms of the operationally defined simple bodies. But in general he avoids the philosophical analysis. 

In 1783, Lavoisier submitted a study of phlogiston entitled Reflections on Phlogiston to the Academie. By careful experiment and logical deduction, he... 

Lavoisier originally presented his new theory as an alternative to the phlogiston theory, but by 1783 he felt sufficiently confident to attack the old theory in a paper read to the Academy called Reflections on Phlogiston. In it he said ... 

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