The excellent sensitivity of a permanent‐magnet type magnetic suspension balance was utilized in a simple method for measuring the resistivities of bulk quantities of metals and alloys, based on the Arago effect. An estimated accuracy of 2% was obtained on samples 2.85 cm in diameter in the range 10−4to 10−6&OHgr;‐cm. Skin effects were negligible in samples this size, as the frequency of the excitation field was less than 1 cps.