When a fire is kindled on the hearth, we may, if we will observe the
motes floating in the room, see that those nearest the chimney are the
first to feel the draught and to obey it,--they are drawn into the
blaze. The circle of inflowing air is gradually enlarged, until it is
scarcely perceived in the remote parts of the room. Now the land is the
hearth, the rays of the sun the fire, and the sea, with its cool and
calm air, the room; and thus we have at our firesides the sea-breeze in
miniature.
When the sun goes down, the fire ceases; then the dry land commences
to give off its surplus heat by radiation, so that by nine or ten
o’clock it and the air above it are cooled below the sea temperature.
The atmosphere on the land thus becomes heavier than that on the
sea, and consequently there is a wind seaward, which we call the
land-breeze.--_Maury._