A number of hydrophobic derivatives attached to cross-linked agarose were studied as protein adsorbents. Differences in the adsorption and desorption behaviour were determined as functions of type and concentration of selected salts. Whereas octyl- and phenyl-Sepharose adsorb serum albumin preferentially, pyridyl-S-agarose shows a much stronger preferential affinity for IgG in the presence of high concentrations of lyotropic salts, such as sulphates. In contrast to pyridyl-S-agarose, a large portion of proteins remained fixed to octyl- and phenyl-Sepharose after extensive washing with 1 M NaOH.