The ivory of elephants has been eagerly sought after. It is rather strange that little attention has been paid to the distribution of the elephant. In China the growth of population and the ceaseless demand for ivory combined to bring about the extinction of the elephant. While it existed, however, there can be no doubt that the ivory trade played a part in the diffusion of the Chinese type of civilization among the peoples of southeastern Asia quite comparable to the modern ivory trade in Africa, where conditions are similar to those which existed in the proto-historic period in southern China. It is the purpose of this paper to present a brief synopsis of the available data concerning the Asiatic elephant and the traffic in its ivory during the earlier historical periods in regions where it has now disappeared, particularly in ancient China.