Tn recent publications it was pointed out that there is a correlation between the observed values of the solubility of proteins in aqueous solutions and the second virial coefficient of the solution. In this paper we give a theoretical explanation of this relation. The derived theoretical expression describes the experimentally observed relation between solubility and virial coefficient quite accurately. It is concluded that a variation of the crystallization conditions has little effect on the anisotropy or the range of the interactions between the protein molecules. Analysis of the data for lysozyme indicates a strong anisotropy of the interactions between the molecules.