Early drafts of Bach's allegorical novel were called "Jonathan Livingstone Rattus" and described the aspirant rodent's attempts to overcome his biological limitations and teach himself to vomit

Above: The Vulgar Little Mouse acquired that name from its habit of drinking Kestrel 9% all afternoon, reciting dirty limericks and all 18 verses of the Ball of Kerrymuir, and puking in letter-boxes on the way home.

Research into rodent regurgitation really began in 1955 with Garcia's pioneering observation that rats do not throw up after exposure to gamma radiation, despite experiencing nausea (as evinced by their literary output of French existential novels).

A more recent study concluded that other rodents are equally emesis-impaired. Their inability is partly explained by their anatomical design, but also they seem to have lost the neural structures that other mammals use to coordinate the intricate muscular ballet known as a "puke".


The question of whether rats can throw up, and (if so) what they require as sufficient incentive, acquired political relevance after the loosely-choreographed consortium of weasels occupying the skin-bag known as "Ted Cruz" felt obliged to call a press conference and report their collective erotic predilection:

"Let me be clear: Donald Trump may be a rat, but I have no desire to copulate with him."

Horn et al. used a variety of emetic and nauseant drugs, while filming their subjects from below in suitably-sized enclosures (ruling out the use of coypu and capybaras) to document their unsuccessful stomach-purging convulsions.

The paper is further enlived by a description of the "brain-stem preparation" used to "conduct detailed recordings of mouth, esophagus, and shoulder movements, and neural activity of the phrenic nerve", in the absence of higher brain function.

Animals were then transected below the diaphragm and [...] decerebrated above the superior colliculi. [...] The cerebellum and abdominal cavity organs were removed, keeping the esophagus to the level of the gastroesophageal junction.

Which brings us back to Republican voters.

Below: A Brown-Jenkin rat, stealing Trump
toupée to disguise itself as a skwirl

UPDATE: "Where am I supposed to find a picture of a nauseated beaver?" I asked.