PERENNIAL HAY FEVER

The term "hay fever" is a misnomer, as the symptoms are not due to hay, and instead of fever, there is usually a subnormal temperature. This name was first applied to the disease by the laity, and as it has survived a century of usage, will probably never be discarded. Hay fever is of two types: (1) the seasonal, which is limited to some particular season of the year, and (2) the nonseasonal or perennial, with symptoms occurring more or less irregularly throughout the year. Perennial hay fever has many different names, such as vasomotor rhinitis, hyperesthetic rhinitis and nasal hydrorrhea, and when known to be due to sensitization is spoken of as allergic rhinitis or atopic coryza. Although perennial hay fever is frequently encountered by the medical profession, it is usually poorly handled, and, as a matter of fact, is looked on by most rhinologists as a more