The nonlinear theory of the steepening of Alfv¿n waves into solitons and then into rotational discontinuities (RDs) predicts correlations between the &bgr; of the plasma, the sense of polarization of the discontinuity, and changes of magnetic field strength and plasma density across the discontinuity. The predicted correlations have been searched for in ISEE 3 field and plasma data, but no statistically significant evidence for the evolution of RDs from Alfv¿n solitons could be found. Approximately equal numbers of right- and left-handed discontinuities were observed. Some of the rotations approached 180¿, but none exceeded that value. Nearly all the RDs in the 33-day data set were propagating outward from the Sun, which implies that sunward propagating Alfv¿nic fluctuations produced by stream interactions in the interplanetary medium seldom steepen into discontinuties before reaching 1 AU. The only unambiguously sunward propagating RD in the data set showed all of the expected relations for a steepened Alfv¿n soliton. Interplanetary processes, such as changing wave speeds and &bgr; and refraction of the discontinuities, may have changed the properties of the RDs created close to the Sun to such an extent that any original correlations are not longer detectable at 1 AU. Another possible explanation of the basically negative result is that some of the RDs produced near the Sun may have steepened from fast or slow Korteweg-de Vries solitons. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1990