Italian question: What's the difference between "alcol" and "alcool"?

Factual Questions
1

Is one spelling considered better than the other? Are there contextual differences?

Thanks.

2

I referenced Cassell’s Italian Dictionary, a fairly good one I happen to have on hand. It says alcool = alcohol. It does not have an entry for *alcol. My guess is that the latter is either a misspelling or a variant spelling.

3

The Italian Wikipedia says alcool is “less correct” than alcol. http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcool

Garzanti’s main entry is under alcol. The entry for alcool simply redirects to alcol. http://www.garzantilinguistica.it/index.html (Free registration required).

Alcool is the French spelling.

4

Looks like a relatively recent spelling reform. Cassell’s base copyright date is 1958. One more indication that I need a more up to date Italian dictionary. Minchia…