The general theory of irreversible processes in solutions of macromolecules, previously formulated by the author, is reviewed. The theory is based upon the Oseen method for determining the perturbation in the hydrodynamic flow pattern produced by the frictional forces exerted by the macromolecule on the solvent, and on a generalized theory of Brownian motion in molecular configuration space. Applications of theory to visco-elastic behavior, flow birefringence, and the Kerr effect, and to dielectric dispersion are presented in outline.