Kit, Kit, Kit!

CATS AND PEOPLE (286 pp.)--Frances and Richard Lockridge--Lippincott ($3.50).

"Of all God's creatures," declared Mark Twain, "there is only one that cannot be made the slave of the lash. That one is the cat. If man could be crossed with the cat, it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat."

Frances and Richard Lockridge, who are best known to U.S. readers as joint authors of the Mr. & Mrs. North whodunits, are of a mind with Mark Twain. But in their new book, which covers Felis domestica from tail to whiskers and traces feline history from ancient Egypt to the present day, they sadly admit that vast numbers of people cannot stick cats at any price. Ailurophobia (fear of cats) may in certain cases be so intense that the mere suggestion of a cat's presence may cause the sufferer, in the words of a scientific observer, to respond with "fear, terror, disgust . . . chilly sensations, horripilation [goose flesh], weakness, locked jaws or . . . fixed open jaw, rigidity of arms, pallor, nausea . . . vomiting, pronounced hysterical convulsions and even temporary blindness. These pass away with removal of the cat . . ."

For Hard Times. The Authors Lockridge (who own three Siamese) would rather see all the world's ailurophobes pass away than think for a second of removing a single cat. Nonetheless, for all their felinophilia, they approach the cat question with fairness and restraint, setting forth their arguments in a manner that is always urbane and suave, rarely downright catty.

What about the question of dogs v. cats? Dogs, the Lockridges admit, are pretty nice chums to have around the house, and the sight of a wagging tail and a pair of eyes, brimful of adoration, puts just the right finishing touch to human wellbeing. But the Lockridges submit evidence that in hard times people are apt to prefer cats. During the Depression, their story goes, hosts of U.S. citizens sold their dogs short and bought cats. This may have been an economy measure. But "I cannot help feeling," the Lockridges quote one social commentator, "that, unconsciously at least, they wanted an animal that would not remind them of bond salesmen."

For Nervous Starlings. Most students ,,of cat ways, say the authors, have had little sympathy for their subjects and would have felt more in their element with monkeys. But the cat has never lacked supporters, who have praised it for its immense resourcefulness and high intelligence. Charles Dudley Warner's famous cat Calvin, for instance, was careful to open a hot-air register to warm his bedroom before retiring for the night.

Amiable, well-authenticated cat tales of this type no doubt help to give cats a good name. Other case histories, less authoritative, are also less impressive. A good example is that of the cat who, observing that some starlings nervously avoided him but were unperturbed by cattle, rode into action crouched on the back of a cow. To the same category belongs the cat who specialized in rabbiting and who one day caught a black one. This, according to the story, he hastily brought home to his mistress, "clearly recognizing it was an unusual specimen"--and also hoping, no doubt, add the Lockridges, "that [she] would have an interesting explanation of the phenomenon."

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