The saturation magnetostriction constants of single‐crystal Gd have been measured from 4.2° to 340°K with a strain gauge technique. A marked change in slope of &lgr;Awas observed near 220°K; this is the temperature region where the easy direction of magnetization in Gd shifts from thecaxis to a cone around thecaxis. The constant &lgr;Cshows a definite maximum near 130°K.