8 ▁was ▁largely ▁concerned ▁with ▁developing ▁his ▁own ▁new ▁theory ▁of ▁comb ust ion . ▁In ▁ 1 7 8 3 ▁he ▁read ▁to ▁the ▁a cademy ▁his ▁paper ▁entitled ▁Ré flex ions ▁sur ▁le ▁ph log istique ▁( Ref lections ▁on ▁Ph log ist on ), ▁a ▁full - scale ▁attack ▁on ▁the ▁current ▁ph log ist on ▁theory ▁of ▁comb ust ion . ▁That ▁year ▁Lav ois ier ▁also ▁began ▁a ▁series ▁of ▁experiments ▁on ▁the ▁composition ▁of ▁water ▁which ▁were ▁to ▁prove ▁an ▁important ▁cap stone ▁to ▁his ▁comb ust ion ▁theory ▁and ▁win ▁many ▁converts ▁to ▁it . ▁Many ▁investig ators ▁had ▁been ▁experiment ing ▁with ▁the ▁combination ▁of ▁Henry ▁Cav end ish ' s ▁infl amm able ▁air , ▁which ▁Lav ois ier ▁term ed ▁hydro gen ▁( G reek ▁for ▁" water - former "), ▁with ▁" de ph log istic ated ▁air " ▁( air ▁in ▁the ▁process ▁of ▁comb ust ion , ▁now ▁known ▁to ▁be ▁o xygen ) ▁by ▁elect r ically ▁spark ing ▁mi xt ures ▁of ▁the ▁g ases . ▁All ▁of ▁the ▁research ers ▁noted ▁Cav end ish ' s ▁production ▁of ▁pure ▁water ▁by ▁burning ▁hydro gen ▁in ▁o xygen , ▁but ▁they ▁interpreted ▁the ▁reaction ▁in ▁varying ▁ways ▁within ▁the ▁framework ▁of ▁ph log ist on ▁theory . ▁Lav ois ier ▁learned ▁of ▁Cav end ish ' s ▁experiment ▁in ▁June ▁ 1 7 8 3 ▁via ▁Charles ▁B lag den ▁( before ▁the ▁results ▁were ▁published ▁in ▁