The surface chemistry of moscovite mica and hydrophilic glass was characterized by ESCA. The adsorption of detergents and lysozyme was measured by surface force methods, ellipsometry or ESCA. The results show that the peotein has a higher affinity to the mica surface. A biological characterisation of the surfaces was performed by exposure to whole blood, followed by detection of surface-adsorbed plasma proteins and cellular antigens by immunofluorescence. The brighteness of the fluorescence was measured by computer-aided image analysis. The results show that the hydrophilic glass was the most efficient activator of serine protease cascade enzymes. Platelets were activated at both surfaces, but were shown to leave the glass surface with time. The glass surface was more inflammatogenic than the mica surface as determined by the CD 11b - integrin expression of PMN-cells. The results indicate that the nonself recognition of the surfaces is an array of subreactions, the kinetics of which determine the outcome of the blood- material contact.