A theoretical study is presented of the properties of flush-mounted or wo-sided ariablereac ance surface-wave a tennas. he paradox of radiation from a constant-reactance surfacewave antenna is discussed also in order to derive an understanding of the principle of radiati n from a surface-wave antenna with periodicallly varying parameters. The principle of radiation from Simon's cigar a tenna which has caused some controversy, is discussed. Finally, a theory, which i in principle exact, is developed for a variable-reactance surface-wave a tenna. By this theory, the surface field can be determined using a field representation in terms of couples cylindrical mode . For practical designs approximate expre sions for the surface field are derived. (author).