It is funny, but you have to wonder... Chances are that a fat doesn't chew much of its food, so what happens when a large piece of pork butt or something gets lodged in the pump, safely away from the body's digestive juices? Will the pump break? Shut down? Explode? So many wonderful possibilities to consider! By the way, although we misunderstand the purpose of the Roman vomitorium, intentional purging stemming from excess was indeed one of the factors that led to the fall of Rome. The Straight Dope: Were there really vomitoriums in ancient Rome? I'm a big Cecil Adams fan, by the way, and I highly recommend his compilation books if you're into that sort of thing.