This classic monograph by a mathematician affiliated with Trinity College, Cambridge, offers a brief account of the invariant theory connected with a single quadratic differential form. Suitable for advanced undergraduates and graduate students of mathematics, it avoids unnecessary analysis and offers an accessible view of the field for readers unfamiliar with the subject.A historical overview is followed by considerations of the methods of Christoffel and Lie as well as Maschke's symbolic method and explorations of geometrical and dynamical methods. The final chapter on applications, which draws upon developments by Ricci and Levi-Civita, presents the most successful method and can be read independently of the rest of the book.